Light of Darkness
by darklingchild
Summary: tears. kidnappings. evil. torture. sadness. and the insufferable courage of the Gryffs. will hermione be able to forgive Draco before his depression consumes him? hr/d!! CHAPPIE 23 up!!!! :D
1. skating

A/N: this is my first fanfic, so go easy on me! Without further ado,  
  
Light Of Darkness  
  
The boy pushed his blond hair back from his forehead and stared at his reflection angrily. His gray eyes shone coldly in the cloudy morning light.  
  
"Very nice, Mr. Malfoy," his mirror told him. The boy gave a curt nod in acknowledgement, and tenderly touched his forehead, where an ugly bruise was already forming. His hand clenched into a fist, and he bit his lip in anger.  
  
"Obscuro." The boy muttered, pointing a wand at the bruise. It disappeared slowly. Pointing to other various bruises on his body, the boy continued concealing his injuries. Finally finished, the boy stared at his reflection again, running his eyes over his handiwork. A smirk slowly turned up the corners of his mouth, and the boy gripped his wand tighter in his palm. Lucius was going to pay. Sooner or later.  
  
~*~  
  
The low murmur of the Death Eaters woke Draco up, and he slowly rolled out of his bed, his feet contacting the cold stone floor. He wanted to know if there was something he could use against that man. Ignoring the shivers shooting up his spine, Draco silently laid one ear to the ground.  
  
"The plan is all set." One silky voice announced. Draco tensed. His father.  
  
"What?" A gruff voice asked, most obviously Goyle's father. Draco could almost see the brutish look on the man's face.  
  
"We will kidnap the child, and bring them into the dungeons." Mr. Malfoy explained impatiently, in a tense voice. Draco smirked at his father's evident frustration. The boy sat down on his knees more comfortably.  
  
"Why?" a quiet voice. Draco frowned. Who was it? He pressed his ear urgently to the floor, wanting to know more. His father never told him about any plan.  
  
Just then, a loud creak penetrated the room, and Draco shot up, cold gray eyes scanning the room. There was no movement. Frowning, Draco put his ear back on the cold stone floor.  
  
"-tonight, then. Adjourned." There was a loud scraping of chairs, and Draco could hear footsteps leaving. Draco sat up on his heels, unruly light blond hair falling into his eyes, processing what he had just heard. His door opened, suddenly, and Draco stood up, dusting his knees off elegantly.  
  
"Draco." It was Lucius. Alike, and yet so different from the boy which stood before him. Draco inclined his head, hiding his anger as he had been taught. "Don't listen to my conversations." Draco's hands clenched painfully. "I'll have to punish you." Lucius grinned, and pointed his wand at his son. "Crucio."  
  
Draco fell on the floor, writhing in pain. He was being crushed. His heart beat rapidly and Draco bit his lip from crying out. He felt his life draining out of him, and his stomach was doing flip-flops.  
  
"You.bastard." He managed to choke out, before his eyes glazed over into the back of his head.  
  
Lucius smirked, and turned to go, robes flaring.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot." He said to himself. He pointed his wand at his son. "Obliviate."  
  
~*~  
  
Draco's eyes fluttered open, his whole body sore. Raising one shaky hand to his head, he tried to remember what happened. He had a nagging feeling it had been important, but shrugged it off as sleepiness. He sat up on his bed and glanced out his window. The moon had just risen, and casting his room with an ethereal glow.  
  
Strangely, he wasn't hungry, and he cast his gaze around his room. His skates lay forgotten in a corner. Taken by some indescribable desire, he grabbed his skates and flung on his cloak. He grabbed his newly bought Firebolt broom and flew out the window. The cool wind whipped about his hair, and Draco tugged on his hood. He headed towards the forest, where he knew by memory lay a pond.  
  
In the distance, he saw the light sparkling of water. It had been an unnaturally cold summer, and the pond had frozen over. Landing gently on the newly fallen snow, he started to put on his skates, when he saw a graceful blur skating in the pond. Their eyes met, and for some reason, Draco could not look away. A hood covered the person's face, and all the boy could see were two brown eyes, sparkling in the midnight glow.  
  
Draco skated over to where the figure was, his skills coming back with every step. He stopped in front of it, eyes probing. His expensive broom lay in the snow behind him, forgotten. Draco, at this distance, could tell the figure was a girl. Unbidden, he extended a hand towards her.  
  
"May I?" he asked quietly, surprising even himself, his breath becoming a wisp of smoke quickly disappearing into the night air. The girl smiled, he could tell by the way her eyes wrinkled up in the corners.  
  
"Of course." She answered. She had a beautiful voice. The two of them began to skate to imaginary music, broken up now and then by the mysterious sounds of the forest around them. They skated in silence, neither willing to break the peace with words.  
  
Draco lifted her in the air and the tinkling laugh of the girl fell down onto Draco's ears. A fleeting smile graced his drawn lips. They continued skating, simultaneously in beat with each other, twirling and spinning in the air in perfect rhythm.  
  
Draco's cheeks began to get pink, and he loved the freedom of the air in his hair. The same reason why he loved quidditch; why he loved to dive on his broom. Unwelcome, the first time he had skated came into his mind.  
  
~*~  
  
"Daddy, daddy, I can do it now!" the little boy said, smiling a crooked smile as he stood proudly in front of a man.  
  
"It's father." The man corrected icily. But this could not dampen the little one's spirits, as it had many times before. "Show me, then." The man had asked, disbelieving.  
  
The little boy began to skate toward his father. But the man started skating backwards.  
  
"You haven't reached me yet, boy." His father scoffed elegantly.  
  
It was inevitable. The little boy fell, and cut his lip. His eyes moistened, but did not cry. The small boy looked up at his father pleadingly. Hard laughter echoed in his ears, as his father skated away.  
  
Then, amazingly, a little girl had come up to him. This was before he had learnt about muggles, before he had learnt prejudice. She was bundled up in many layers, and her hair fell in curly waves across her shoulders.  
  
She offered him a handkerchief, her eyes comforting, cheeks red from the wind. Draco raised a hand thankfully to take the proffered gift.  
  
Suddenly his father came back, and dragged him away.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco fell, his knee hitting the ice hard.  
  
"Are you okay?" the girl asked him, extending a hand.  
  
"I'm fine," he told her gruffly, and began to stand up.  
  
But fell back onto the ice, hitting the same knee again. He inhaled sharply from the pain. The wind took that time to start howling around them. For some reason, his and the girl's hoods stayed on.  
  
"Here." The girl sat on the ice around him, and took out a wand. "Ameliorate." She said, staring a while into Draco's eyes. Draco looked at her in surprise.  
  
"You're a witch." She nodded. 'Ameliorate' was a powerful healing spell only the most advanced wizard could accomplish. 'Obscuro' hid injuries.  
  
Suddenly a loud creak echoed through the glade. The same sound Draco had heard earlier in his room, he remembered foggily. The sound continued, getting louder and louder, till it started to pierce Draco's ears.  
  
"Ah! Look out!" the girl suddenly screamed, and grabbed his hand. But it was too late. Both him and the girl were suddenly crushed between an enormous weight.  
  
Draco's eyes looked around, panicked. It was an old deadfall, a tree. It could've fallen on him when he was in his room. He couldn't breathe, and his already weak body began to shake in exhaustion.  
  
"Help!" he heard a weak shout from the girl, but his head began to loll. He was losing consciousness. Suddenly he was saved. Arms started to pull him out from underneath the tree, and spells whistled over his head to make the tree lighter.  
  
I'm safe now, Draco repeated in his head, and forced his eyes to open. His saviours were dressed in dark black, flowing robes. Tiredly, he glanced at the girl. She was getting dug out also.  
  
We're safe now, he repeated to himself.  
  
.  
  
That was before the punches came.  
  
~*~  
  
A/n: I dunno how to use html tags, so if anybody has any time, can they teach me to use indent? And the others? THX!!!  
  
REVIEW!!!!!! *smiles a hyper smile* 


	2. skating,,,other POV

A/N: humph, fanfic had to make me put up two chapters before I could put something up, so I couldn't leave it at a cliffie!! *evil smirk disappears into a pout* ah wells, here come the SECOND chappie!  
  
Last chappie: draco and a mysterious girl's *cough* static.*cough* skate is interrupted by being squished by a deadfall, and their rescuers are fighting with them.got it? If not, READ LAST CHAPPIE!!! : ).lol  
  
PPS! I just thought of a way to end it at a cliffie! Alright, so the last chappie was in draco's view, right? This one is not.  
  
ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE!!! (just because I feel like annoying you guys.) ( THX to MA first 4 reviewers!!! :D Icicle, Hermione18, roary14, and Draco Lover!!! :DDDDDD  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Hermione tucked a stray curl of shiny brown hair between her teeth, and strted chewing on it. She was sitting on her bed, legs crossed. On one lap was a heavy (and thick) *open* textbook. Her eyes scanned the words again, but they seemed just a bunch o f gibberish to her.  
  
She frowned, and stared at nothing for a while, just contemplating her problems. Crookshanks, her cat, suddenly leapt on her lap, shaking her out of her thoughts. Frowning, the girl tried to focus her attention on her textbook again.  
  
A shattering sound echoed from the living room below. Hermione flinched. They were at it again. Fighting. Hermione closed her book, and placed it gently on her bedside table. She buried herself deeper into a pile of blankets, and bit her lip.  
  
Another shattering sound. The girl closed her eyes, and covered her ears with a pillow, trying not to let her tears fall. The shouting grew louder, and suddenly, there was a loud smack. Hermione's eyes flew open, and, discarding her blankets, she raced down the stairs.  
  
"Stop it!" she yelled, running in between her parents. "Just stop it!" Her mother had a hand to her cheek, and her father's eyes were filled with anger...and. Hermione took a step back. They were filled with hatred.  
  
A ferocious hatred, that seemed to claw at her senses. This was not her dad, was it? Hermione took another step back, as her father turned to face her. And for the first time ever, he sneered. Hermione was reminded of Lucius, the cold-hearted Death eater.  
  
Suddenly her dad's dark brown eyes melted, and Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.  
  
"I'm sorry." He said sincerely, guiltily avoiding his daughter's gaze. "I'm sorry." This time Mr. Granger cast his eyes on his wife. "Please forgive me, Katrina." Her father's dark black hair fell about his face, as he gazed up as his brunette wife.  
  
Hermione took this time to leave, and headed back up to her room, where her textbook lay in wait for her. She sat on her bed, trying to concentrate. If she could only lose herself in her book, then she would forget all her problems.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione woke up with a start, her textbook open on top of her face. She lay in her bed for a moment, enjoying the warmth around her. Suddenly seized by some desire, she disentangled herself from her blankets. A large, cheery fire crackled eagerly in her room, and Hermione smiled for a moment.  
  
Spotting them in the corner of the room, Hermione grabbed them. In her other hand, she found her Nimbus2000 broom. She flung on her dark green cloak, lightly slipping the hood over her brown tendrils of hair.  
  
Sliding the laces onto her handle, Hermione jumped out her window. Dipping dangerously for a moment, Hermione clung onto her broom for dear life. She wasn't a natural flyer, like Harry or..Draco..  
  
Now why did she think about him? She had other problems. Like your parents, a small voice in the back of her mind told her. Hermione grimaced, and tried to shake them out of her head. She looked around her, she was probably almost there...  
  
The glittering moonlit lake lay in front of her, in all its grandeur. The glowing shafts of moonlight made the lake a dazzling gem. A frosted forest surrounded it, adding to the fairy tale feeling.  
  
A gentle breeze ruffled her hair, and Hermione suddenly started to dive on her broom. The wind whistled past her ears, and one foot from the ground, she pulled up on her broom, and stopped it.  
  
Grabbing her skates (A/N: for those who didn't catch it, she grabbed that and put it on her broom.( erk..on with the story!!) Hermione's skilled hands quickly finished tying them on. Hermione had always loved skating, and her graceful body slid across the ice. She added some twirls now and then, smiling in the midnight air.  
  
Hermione noticed a figure on the frozen shore. He had just flown down on his own broom, and in Hermione did not find anything peculiar about it, in her dazed state. She gazed quietly at the wizard, her warm brown eyes meeting mysterious gray ones.  
  
She felt like she had known him forever, and slid silently to a stop, gazing across the sparkling lake, as the boy closed the distance between them. He held out a hand.  
  
"May I?" His voice was deep, tenorous. Hermione caught her breath, a dark hood hid everything but his eyes, but she felt like she had known this boy all her life. She grinned, crinkling her eyes.  
  
"Of course," she answered succinctly. The girl didn't need words, nor the boy. It was a comfortable, enigmatic silence that enveloped the empty glade. A peaceful silence. Hermione's cares melted away from her consciousness, and all her attention was focused on the mysterious boy skating with her.  
  
He suddenly picked her up, and twirled her in the air. Hermione let out a tinkling laugh. She could tell he was amused also; his eyes were sparkling. She and the boy started to absorb themselves in intricate dance steps.  
  
There was nobody in the world, but her, the boy, and the chilling evening breeze dancing above the lake.  
  
Suddenly the boy fell hard onto his knee. Hermione skated up to him, worry creasing her brow. This boy somehow meant something to her. She didn't want him hurt. He looked up at her, for a moment, gray eyes unguarded.  
  
Hermione had to tell herself to swallow, as an unfamiliar feeling surged up in her. She had an eerie sense of déjà vu.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked him, extending her hand to help him up.  
  
His eyes hardened like agates. Hermione was almost thankful. She wasn't sure how long she could've taken the overwhelming feeling anymore.  
  
"I'm fine." He blew her off, trying to stand up on his own. Then he promptly fell down again. Hermione could hear him hiss in pain. The wind took that moment to pick up, and it pierced through Hermione's cloak. She ignored her shivering, focusing her attention on the boy in front of her. She knelt down to him.  
  
"Here. Ameliorate." She touched the tip of her wand lightly to his knee, and stared into his gray eyes, which now held veiled surprise. Hermione grinned slightly.  
  
"You're a witch," he breathed into the air. Hermione nodded, and the two teenagers just stared into eachother's eyes for a moment.  
  
A loud creaking started echoeing through the glade. Hermione darted her gaze around the lake. She had heard that noise before somewhere. Her gaze fell onto an old tree. In slow motion, the trunk snapped, and started falling towards them.  
  
"Ah! Look out!" Hermione yelled. They had to get out of the lake. If the tree fell on the lake, the ice would break, and they would be dead or frozen to death underneath the water.  
  
She grabbed the boy's hand, and started skating as fast as she could toward the shore, not noticing the old deadfall angling toward their direction.  
  
Hermione was crushed. Her lips were numb, and she could feel a warm trickle of blood dripping over her eyes. Breathing became an issue. Her lungs ached for air.  
  
"Help." She tried one last time. She started to lose consciousness.  
  
To her gratification, the trunk was being lifted. Hermione felt herself get dragged out from underneath the tree. She could've kissed her rescuers.  
  
The girl forced her eyes to open, and suddenly heard muffled grunts of pain from the boy. Her eyes grew wider, snapping open. Then her whole body blossomed in pain.  
  
AN: heehee, what happens next!! Until next time!!  
  
(must pig out on pomegranate) :D 


	3. oh my, surprise, surprise!

A/N: HEY YOU PEEPS!!! What's happening? :D oh hey, has neone seen the ring? PeerrETTy freaky!! Eh? Ahhhh! (Must confess, I haven't watched it yet)  
  
Ermm.*clears throat*  
  
Oh no, what will happen?? ;) *smirks a dracoish smirk*  
  
Summary: Well, let's see, you just saw TWO points of views ('Mione and Draco) about skating and getting squashed by a tree, kay? Ohkee.ON with the Story!!  
  
(an: not story, just felt like adding this-  
  
Draco: what? What? Darklingchild! What are you making me do?? *to you, ze audience* ~she's CrAzY~  
  
DKC(darklingchild):*steals keyboard* hehe you better not annoy me, or ur gonna end up very VERY OOC in the end *smirks again* U might Cry!!! Eheha  
  
Draco: Oh NO!!! oh goodness gracious me!  
  
DKC: *smirks*  
  
Draco: Ah! I give up! *being nice* plz make me evil!!! PLZ!!! *tries to make puppy eyes, but just ends up looking like frodo when he's scared of the ring*  
  
DKC: AHHHH *get away!* AHHHHH!! *Bats at draco with hands* (to ze audience, YOU!!) Have a good time reading!! :D  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
"Petrificus Totalus!" Draco heard the stunning charm fly above his head, and hit the man on his right. For a heavenly second, the punching stopped, before somebody else took the first one's place. Draco doubled over in pain, clenching his teeth together. His wand was taken away from him, and Draco felt strangely helpless.  
  
With bleary eyes he glanced at his "rescuers."  
  
A mask? Draco frowned. NO.  
  
They were deatheaters. His father's men.  
  
Losing strength, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and the world turned black.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione woke up slowly (A/N: don't they seem to AlwaYs JuSt wake up? Ack!) and groaned in pain. What happened to her? She had to be in the hospital wing, but this bed was lumpy..  
  
Her glazed eyes took in the room around her, and then shot open. Bad decision. Hermione flinched, as the sunlight hit her chocolate brown eyes. Where was she? The walls were made of slabs of gray stone, and Hermione pulled her cloak tighter about her. One barred window let sunlight stream into the chamber.  
  
She frowned, and tried to get into a more comfortable position on her bed. Hermione couldn't think while she was still so tired.  
  
"Mmprhh."  
  
Where did that voice come from? It sounded so familiar...Hermione looked underneath her. She wasn't on a bed.  
  
A PERSON??  
  
"AHH!" Hermioned muffled a yell, and rolled her bruised body from over the boy. He had a hood over his head, and suddenly Hermione thought of her skating excursion.  
  
Darn it, was he alright? She deftly put two fingerprints on his neck, and felt for a pulse. Hermione let out a breath. He was alive, barely.  
  
"Mmprhh." Hermione took this time to register it was the boy who spoke, and placed one hand onto his shoulder.  
  
"You alright?" she asked, even though, by instinct, she knew he would not answer. Suprisingly he nodded, and, grimacing, sat up slowly. His hood fell off, revealing a shock of pale blond hair.  
  
"DRACO MALFOY???!!!" Hermione yelled. This couldn't be the boy, the skater, could it? Hermione shook her head vigorously. No, it wasn't him. This was Malfoy.  
  
She could see his lips turn up slightly, but his eyes showed his surprise.  
  
"And you are.." He left it hanging in the air, slowly raising one hand to pull back her hood. His eyes widened in amazement.  
  
"Granger." For one moment, his eyes showed some compassion, a hint of a smile. Then, as suddenly, his eyes hardened. "Mudblood, I mean." He corrected himself. He raised his eyes to stare at her, keeping his expression cold and calculating.  
  
Hermione started to back up from him, and sat as far away from the boy as possible. She frowned at him, in cocky way. Refusing to even grace the statement with a reply, she stared at the floor in front of her, crossing her arms in annoyance.  
  
Both teenagers remained stoically silent, ignoring eachother's presence for the better part of the day.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco looked around the cell, and frowned darkly, creasing his elegant brow. The stone walls produced a 'moldy earth' kind of smell, and he grimaced in distaste. He turned to look at the Mudblood, then flinched, as his neck spasmed with pain.  
  
Instead, he groaned, and put a hand to his head, ignoring the concern that couldn't help showing up in the Mudblood's eyes. He stopped abruptly, and sent her a glare. Pointedly, he continued his scrutiny of the room. An iron door barred the entrance, overlaid with a cold metal grille.  
  
Sudden realization hit him.  
  
He was in the Malfoy dungeons. With Granger.  
  
~*~  
  
The sound of the grille scraping on the stone floor awoke both of them, startling them out of their fitful rest. Although, if questioned, they wouldn't have admitted to it. Hermione narrowed her eyes at the slowly opening door.  
  
Her dreams had been haunted by the mysterious ice skater. Where was he? Was he alright? She vaguely remembered him screaming out in pain, as those black robes surrounded him.  
  
Hermione pulled her legs to her chin, even though her body protested her every movement. She clenched her hands into fists and wrapped them tensely against her knees. She grimaced in pain.  
  
Her captors would pay for what they did, no doubt about that. Her eyes darted back to the door. Hermione gasped. They were deatheaters. She panicked, thinking about Harry. Was Harry here? Was he ok?  
  
Her inner turmoil prevented her from thinking, but surprisingly, Hermione heard herself start to talk.  
  
"Where is the ice skater?" she asked in as firm, yet weak voice. Draco glanced at her in surprise. She wasn't The Girl, was she? No, he probably heard wrong. The mudblood probably didn't even know how to put on skates. Frowning, he turned his cold eyes on the Deatheater.  
  
The man did not answer Hermione's question, instead, he stalked up to Draco, and pushed its gray mask up to the boy's face. Then he punched him in the stomach.  
  
Draco doubled over, furious at his weakness. His body had taken too much, and didn't have the strength to fight back. Breath whistled up his throat, and clutched at his stomach with his slender hands. The boy glared angrily at the deatheater, who was emitting, low, malicious chuckles.  
  
"Who...who are you?" This was Hermione, eyes wide. Before, she had been too stunned to move, but her Gryffindor courage took over. Draco might be an insufferable git, but she didn't want him to die. The girl stalked up to the hideously masked man.  
  
"Tell me! Who are you?" She didn't know the meaning, or the implications of her question. She just had to divert his attention. She silently prayed Draco would be alright.  
  
The Death eater did not back down, and his mask seemed to smile malevolently along with him. Hermione's heart was pounding. She was sorely regretting her decision to help Malfoy, as she realized she had no wand.  
  
Despite it all, she continued to glare.  
  
Inch by inch, the Death Eater's hand slowly traveled up to his mask. Hermione quickly inhaled a breath, and fought not to cry. The mask revealed messy dark brown hair, and even darker eyes. The Death Eater's eyes flashed at Hermione, and he grinned malevolently. Then he spoke, voice shy, quiet, yet heard and commanding respect.  
  
"Oh, but Hermione, don't you recognize your father?"  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: hehee! Hope u liked that chappie! Review, mateys! Yardy yarr yarr!  
  
Draco Lover: Yeehaw! Thx for ze great reviews!! Hope you like this chappie too!!  
  
AngelKatrinaEvans: Sorry you don't like this! Er.that WAS a flame, right?  
  
Hermi Lu: Glad u like! Continue reviewing and reading, plz!  
  
:D alright, daz ALL the chappie 2 reviews I have now,  
  
buhbye!  
  
Signing out,  
  
DKC aka icy_flymn 


	4. NOT A CHAPTER! JUST A DISCLAIMER! sorRRR...

AH CRUD!  
  
I just noticed I hadn't put on any disclaimers yet, I KNEW I forgot something!!!  
  
Neways, here it is..  
  
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT *got it, you lawyers out there?* DO NOT, ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY, DO NOT own harry potter.lol  
  
Alright, zat good enuff for you??? *wipes mouth foam*  
  
Hehe.SOLLIEZ, this IS NOT a chappie!! 


	5. tears and sorrow

A/N: *yells* another chapter comin' UP!!!!!!!!!!! :D  
  
Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Herha.erm.yeah.Disclaimer's on #4, and I hope that accounts for ALL of me story!! Anyways, review and rate, mateys!!!  
  
Ps. Didja know that arm & hammer dental gum *ice mint flavour* isn't all that bad? Who knew?..  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Hermione drew in a shuddering breath, her eyes wide open, staring at the man-her father-in front of her.  
  
"No." she whispered, backing up slowly. "No, no, NO!!!" (A/N: this might spoil this dramatic moment, but if you switched the "N" of all the "no"'s in the last sentence to "h"'s, hermione's pretending to be a crazy santa clause!!! Er...yeah...ON with the STORY!!!)  
  
Her father smirked.  
  
"You never knew, did you?" he asked quietly. He smiled patronizingly. "My dear Hermione, head stuck in the books. Too ignorant to notice anything." Hermione put her hands over her ears, and started stumbling backwards, until her back collided with the stone wall.  
  
"No." Her head snapped up, and she looked pleadingly at her father. A deatheater. "No" she breathed. Salty tears started to trail down her cheeks, dripping gently past her mouth. Hermione slid down the wall and sat with her legs drawn up to her chin. Her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably, as she felt the evil emanating from her father's figure.  
  
She felt cold, unprotected. Nothing made sense anymore.  
  
"Go away, please." She pleaded to the man, voice breaking. "Leave..please..." The man stared at her back for a moment. Smiling, he turned on his heel.  
  
"I'll leave you time to think, sweetie," he grinned. "Tomorrow the fun really starts." Taking one last look at his crying daughter, the man left.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco gazed emotionlessly at the deatheater's retreating figure. Sobbing filled the room, and the boy turned his eyes to Hermione, who was rocking back and forth, tears pouring down her face.  
  
Draco's eye twitched, and he looked away quickly. This was a Mudblood, he counseled himself. She didn't DESERVE his respect. Draco glanced at the Gryffindor again.  
  
On their own accord, his legs started moving towards her, even though it pained him at every step.  
  
"Granger...Granger..." he said gently surprising even himself. Hermione ignored him, and continued crying. Draco was becoming irritated. Here he was, trying to console her, and she was pushing him away!  
  
Draco turned away to leave, but stopped as he felt a small tug on his sleeve. He turned around, and suddenly felt something fling itself against him. It was Granger. Her sobs choked in the back of her throat, and she cried with helpless abandon.  
  
"There, there," he said awkwardly, knowing she wouldn't remember this conversation later. For some reason, this comforted him, and he placed on hand on Hermione's back, hugging her close. "Granger..Granger.Hermione.don't worry. Hermione, it'll be alright, shhhh, don't worry, shhh." He said, patting her on the back.  
  
This sent Hermione into another crying fit, and she started to mumble inbetween her cries.  
  
"Daddy. Draco, daddy.." She sobbed again, " Daddy was a nice, nice man!" Why did he," sniff, "join the dark side!" she quieted slightly. "He was magic all along." Realization hit Hermione. " Draco, he LIED!! He was Magic ALL ALONG!!!" She screamed this, and then quieted down.  
  
Draco remained silent, knowing he couldn't say anything to make her happier. Instead, he just hugged her closer, and laid his head on hers.  
  
"Don't worry. Shhh."  
  
Then Draco had his own revelation. Hermione.wasn't a mudblood? He looked quietly in her eyes, and wiped her tears with a sleeve.  
  
"I..won't let anything happen to you, okay? I won't..." Draco mentally slapped himself on his head. Why the Heck did he say THAt? Hermione quieted down, and Draco wished fervently she hadn't heard him. What kind of sap had he become? Just because of...of skating..  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by a light snore, and he grinned at Hermione. Laying her down on his arm, he grinned a second time, in a long while. His gray eyes sparkled in the sparse light of their room.  
  
"Good night Granger. Good night."  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: AaAWWWW...how SWEET!!  
  
(am I going TOO fast? Tell meh, plz! heeeheee)  
  
(sorrie, this chappie's kinda short!!)  
  
Is Draco a ChaNged person? READ ON and find OUT~!!!! :DDDDD  
  
DKC, aka icy_flymn 


	6. all around the world!

A/N: WHOO! Thx to mah reviewers! *blows kisses* you are the best!!!  
  
Belladonna: ( yup yup thx, muchos gracias!  
  
Evillalmanotlamma(frog: PhEw! Did I spell that correctly? Thx!  
  
Nevada: lol...alright, here's another chappie!!!  
  
Draco Lover: :DDDDDD heehee, thx!  
  
Li-chan: :DDDDDDD  
  
Here it comes!!!!!  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
A man sat, slouched on a table. His hands were supporting his downcast head, and his elbows rested heavily on the pine boards. He sighed, and raised his head, staring at the wall. The single candle flickered and blew out, leaving the man in complete darkness.  
  
The man did not even flinch, continuing to gaze at the empty space ahead of him. Rain lashed at the window to his right, dripping down the glass in filmy sheets of water. Lightning flashed outside in perfect clarity, followed by the ever present rumble of thunder.  
  
The door burst open, and a severe looking woman walked in through.  
  
"Anything wrong, Albus?" She asked quietly, rekindling the candle with one simple spell.  
  
"It's nothing Minerva. Go ahead, have fun on your date with Mr. Special." Dumbledore winked at the woman at his last words, even in his gloomy mood he could not resist poking fun at the serious teacher.  
  
Surprising, McGonagall started to colour, bringing a Weasley to shame. She nodded quietly and left the room.  
  
Dumbledore smiled at her quickly departing figure, and sighed again. He straigtened, and looked past his dripping windows.  
  
"Voldemort," he announced, "Come and get me. I'm not old yet, old boy. Not even close."  
  
~*~  
  
Half a world away, a snake faced man began to laugh hysterically.  
  
"All in good time, Albus, all in good time."  
  
He laughed again, joined by the mousy chuckles of a small man crouching beside him.  
  
~*~  
  
(A/N: heh, I AlMoSt felt like leaving it there...but I WON'T! ahhh! *dodges a rather sharp looking tomato* ON with the StOrY!!)  
  
Harry sat bolt upright in his bed, stabbing pains shooting around his brain. He held his head in a protective hand, and groaned quietly. A dog sleeping at his side yawned, and stared and him with sleepy eyes.  
  
Harry leaned down, and scratched the dog's ear.  
  
"Nothing to get worried about, Uncle Sirius," he whispered quietly, not wanting to wake up the Dursleys. They only let him keep the shaggy black dog because he was quiet, and stayed out of their way. So far, they didn't suspect a thing.  
  
The black dog yawned again, and promptly fell asleep. Standing silently for a while, Harry listened to the barking snores of the Dursleys, rolled out of bed, and grabbed the wand that was tucked in his pocket.  
  
"Lumos." He muttered quietly, and was rewarded with a faint glow. Grabbing a sheet of parchment, a quill, and ink, Harry began to write a series of letters, addressing them to various people.  
  
Finally finished, Harry smiled triumphantly. Giving Hedwig an apologetic look, he sent her off with four different packages. One each for Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.  
  
~*~  
  
"Malfoy..." Draco groaned, and turned over on his side. He skating again. His skating blades slicing through the ice, his hand warm from another that he was holdin-  
  
"Malfoy, come on, Malfoy, wake up!" Draco head the girl pause. Ah blissful silence. Now back to the dream.  
  
"Draco! With your snoring, you'll wake the whole castle up!" Now this awakened Draco. His eyes snapped open, and he sat upright quickly.  
  
"Now see here-" he started, but paused when he saw Hermione containing a fit of laughter.  
  
"You..." she laughed, "You should've seen it." Draco felt an unfamiliar jolt when he looked at the merry girl. Happiness. A chuckle erupted from his throat.  
  
Darn Draco, control your emotions! They make you weak! His father's voice repeated again and again inside his head. Draco stopped abruptly. Darn that man! Draco responded to the advice without thinking. As he had been drilled to doing, Draco began to sneer.  
  
"Mudblood." He said, "I do not snore. You can ask your father if he heard me, when he comes down."  
  
Hermione withdrew her breath, and he eyes started to water as her lower lip trembled.  
  
What did you do now, Draco? He scolded himself. She wasn't even a Mudblood!! He hadn't meant that, he wanted to explain. Blame my jackass father, he wanted to yell at her. He hadn't meant to hurt her. The way her eyes sparkled, the way her face lit up, you could even say she looked pleasant-  
  
WHOa there. What did he just confess to himself? He shook his head, and glared at the girl. She looked so...innocent. He instantly softened. He wanted to tell her how glad he was that she was happier! Crap, look what he had done!  
  
"I'm sor-" he started, truly repenting.  
  
"Shut it, Malfoy. Just shut that 'Pureblood' mouth of yours." Hermione cast him an injured glare, eyes filled with unshed tears. Abruptly, she stood up, and crossed her arms. "I don't want to be stuck here just as much as you don't, alright? So as much as I don't give a care in the world about you, we hAvE to escape. To do that, we have to work together. Alright? Comprendez?"  
  
Her voice had lowered into a deathly cold tone. Draco looked away from her.  
  
"Agreed." He muttered quietly.  
  
"Good." Hermione paused for a moment, swallowing her tears. "Do you know where we freakin' are?" Draco smirked at her profanity for a moment.  
  
"Shut it, Malfoy." She repeated, although she didn't look as serious as before. Draco smirked one last time, and thought about telling her the truth. Should he? The logical voice in his mind counseled him to, she was the best student (OnE of the best, next to me, of course, he mentally corrected himself) so it was in his best interest to.  
  
"Alright Granger. I'll tell you. We're in the Malfoy mansion dungeons." Hermione's eyes widened. How did he...but that would mean...  
  
"Your dad..." she left it hanging. Draco nodded, and glared at nothing in particular.  
  
"Your father's not the only one who betrayed their child." He clenched his teeth, and pretended he didn't give a whit about his father's betrayal. He finally turned to Hermione, his face expressionless.  
  
He stood up also, brushing off his knees.  
  
"Climb on my shoulders. I'll boost you up to the window."  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: wowsers.WhAt is going to happen?? Oooooohhhh...mysterioso!!  
  
Er.yeah.  
  
REVIEW PLZ!! *waves insanely* 


	7. ron and his crazy, crazy CHESS PIECES!

A/N: REVIEW it, REVIEW it!!!  
  
:DDDDD heehee, thx to mah last chappie reviewers, evillamanotlamma(frogs, DancinBlondeGirl, and Draco Lover!!  
  
*dum dum DUMM!!* another chapter of...  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
"Can you see them?" Draco gritted his teeth as he said this. Hermione was perched on top of his shoulders, and she wasn't particularly light. His shoulders were numb with a dull ache, as her bare feet dug into them.  
  
"The black nails?" She asked, clinging onto the ledge for balance.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I see them. What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Try to loosen them." He snarled, as sweat started to drip down his brow.  
  
"With what?" Hermione's mind was exhausted, and she it couldn't seem to function correctly. She didn't seem to catch the fact that Draco was tired, and that they were being partially civil to one another.  
  
"You're the know-it-all," Draco retorted curtly. The strain was starting to get at him. Draco sighed when Hermione didn't answer him. "Try a hair clip." He advised, supporting her legs with his arms. He wished he still had his skates. They could've worked.  
  
"I don't have any on me." Draco snarled silently to himself. "Although..." Hermione continued, nibbling on her nail thoughtfully.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well..." Hermione extracted something from her pocket.  
  
Draco waited impatiently.  
  
"It's two chess pieces, a knight and a queen." Hermione looked rueful, and laughed, but ended abruptly. "It's Ron's," the girl told Draco with a certain bitterness. Draco could tell she was thinking of her friends, the other parts of the Gryffindor Dream team. "He was winning, so I took them while he wasn't looking...I forgot to give them back to him." Draco turned to stared at a wall. He started to smirk.  
  
"I would never have suspected it of you, Granger. There's something human about you after all." Hermione ignored him, which only made Draco smile wider. He was developing a certain respect for the girl. She wasn't who she seemed to the whole world.  
  
"These pieces usually hammer at eachother in a chess match so maybe." she mused, and put the knight and the queen by the nails. "Maybe they'll be able to hammer at the nails." she tapped gently on the nail. "Knight, Queen, I want you to attack this nail..er...it's a demented-looking pawn?" Hermione phrased it as a question, and Draco chuckled quietly. Surprisingly, the two pieces followed her orders, and started chopping away at the nails.  
  
Hermione let out a happy cry.  
  
"Can I put you down now, Granger?" Came Malfoy's voice. Hermione glanced down as the light blonde. "You're not exactly a feather." The girl ignored his last question, but bit her lip.  
  
"How exactly?" Hermione asked nervously. The ground looked unbelievably far away from her. It made her dizzy.  
  
"Like this." Hermione screamed in surprise as Malfoy pushed her feet off his shoulders. Right before her feet hit the ground, she felt two strong arms envelop her waist. "Got you, Granger." Malfoy said in an amused voice.  
  
Hermione whirled around and glared at him. She pushed him away with her hands, and crossed her arms with a pout.  
  
"Granger." Malfoy started. Hermione shook her head, and suddenly doubled over in laughter.  
  
"That was...the best..."she told him in between guffaws. She looked up at him with shining eyes, and Malfoy couldn't help himself. He joined into the laughter.  
  
The grim walls echoed with all different sounds. The uncontrollable laughter of Hermione, the reserved chuckles of Draco, and the ever-steady beat of the toiling chess pieces.  
  
~*~  
  
Ron looked up from yet another parchment of summer homework, and out the window. Two owls flapped outside, one of them Hedwig, and the other a big brown school owl.  
  
Letting them in, he took his package from the school owl, and it flew off. Hedwig hovered about his room, softly hooting. He untied his and Ginny's letters from her leg. "Thank you, Hedwig, do you want to stay for a while?" Ron asked politely to the proud little snowy owl. Hedwig showed him the other letters tied to her leg. Ron got the point, as Hedwig sent a shady look at Pig, who was flying hyperly around in his cage, making discordant noises.  
  
Ron grinned.  
  
"Ok, Hedwig, I won't keep you any longer," giving her a biscuit for her journey, Ron jumped on his bed, thankful for a rest, and tore open the letter from Harry.  
  
~*~  
  
Dear Ron,  
  
How are you? I just woke up and my scar was hurting, and I hate to say this, but I think you-know-who is on the move again. I don't think it's much, but I sent a letter to Dumbledore just in case.  
  
The Dursleys are getting more bearable, ever since I told them that Dumbledore let me have special permission to use magic. (take that, Snape!) I call Snuffles "Uncle Snuffles" now, even though he really is my godfather. He's asleep at the foot of my bed.  
  
Anyways, have you heard from Hermione? She hasn't replied to my last letter yet. Well, we better finish our homework, or she'll have our heads. Goodnight, I'm sleeping now.  
  
Send Ginny my regards (even though I wrote her a letter too.)  
  
Harry  
  
~*~  
  
"Ginny!" Ron called, finishing the letter.  
  
"Yeah?" she yelled up the stairs.  
  
"Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived To Be Loved By You, just wrote to say hello!" Ron smiled as he heard his favorite sister stomp up the stairs.  
  
"Quietly Dear!" Mrs. Weasley yelled from the kitchen.  
  
Ginny burst open the door to his room, blushing to the roots of her hair. And that's red.  
  
"He also gave you a letter!! Something about er.L-O-V-E, I think!" Ron continued yelling, even though he knew she was in the room. Snatching up her letter, Ginny stomped towards the door, still blushing, and slammed the door behind her.  
  
Ron fell out of his bed laughing.  
  
~*~  
  
hey hey hey!  
  
I hope you like this chappie!!  
  
(well, this one seems kinda lame to me, but AH wells.)  
  
Don't forget to REVIEW!!!!  
  
Tootles until next time!  
  
DKC aka icy_flymn 


	8. ze start of ze plan

A/N: thx to mer reviewers, and for all ur suggestions!! I changed it too!! :DDDDDD  
  
Thx to panaginip02 and copper fire!! You peeps are the best!!!  
  
Now, ON with the Story!  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
"Glad to see you're enjoying the dungeons." Hermione and Draco's chortling abruptly came to a stop, as they swiveled to see two deatheaters standing by the door. Their fathers.  
  
Lucius smiled with a dark grin.  
  
"Not for long, George," he addressed Hermione's dad, fingering his wand gently. "You DO remember the plan, am I correct?" George suddenly yanked Lucius off the floor be his collar and brought him up to his face.  
  
"Why would I forget?" he enunciated every word, eyes glinting dangerously. Suddenly George grinned, and slowly released his grip on the other man's robes. Lucius started to straighten his collar.  
  
During this time Hermione and Draco had edged toward the corner of the room that was farthest away from the quarreling Deatheaters. Draco looked thoughtful, brow furrowed. What was so familiar about what his father had just said?  
  
"Oh look Lucius, they're scared of us." George feigned looking offended. "Our own flesh and blood." He walked towards his daughter. "Come on, Hermione, don't you love your old dad?" Hermione recoiled from his outreached hand.  
  
Draco put one supporting hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. He knew all too well what she was going through. Hermione glanced at him gratefully, and Draco nodded curtly.  
  
"Draco...." Lucius warned his son, as he too advanced, wand outraised. He had to punish his unruly son. This was as good a time as any to try out their plan, anyways. Lucius looked at the deatheater beside him. "One, two three.." He counted.  
  
"Crucio." The two deatheaters spoke at once, as dark crimson lights shone from their wands. On cue, Draco and Hermione doubled over in pain. Their sight began to blur and become red. Draco started to snarl at the two deatheaters.  
  
Both of the teenagers collapsed on the cold stone floor, breathing hard. Painfully, Draco glanced up at the two deatheaters, and saw them raise their wands for another spell.  
  
"Imperio." At their voices Draco surprised himself by lunging in front of Hermione, and absorbing the spell meant for her. Lucius laughed cruelly.  
  
"My son, why are you so ignorant?" he laughed again, and nodded at George.  
  
Draco convulsed, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Prodded by his father, he stood up.  
  
~*~  
  
IN draco's mind:::  
  
*kill her..* Lucius' voice ordered persuasively in his head.  
  
*now..right now..* Hermione's dad added.  
  
Draco turned towards Hermione.  
  
*yep, yep, that I will* he agreed, raising his arms to strangle her. He could sense her close her eyes. She wasn't moving away.  
  
~*~  
  
NORMAL POV  
  
Hermione's opened her eyes.  
  
"Draco, Draco, just listen to me, okay? You don't have to do this. Fight it, Draco, fight it for...for.." Hermione broke down.  
  
Tears started pouring freely down her face.  
  
~*~  
  
IN DRACO"S MIND::  
  
"Draco," a beautiful voice. It broke through the shroud covering his sense, clouding his view.  
  
*hermione?* he thought silently.  
  
The boy sensed himself blinking.  
  
*kill her..NOW* two voices shouted in his head.  
  
NO!!!!!  
  
Draco's hands stiffened, as he fought with his will.  
  
NO!!!  
  
He could sense Hermione was crying.  
  
NO!!!  
  
Draco dropped his hands.  
  
~*~  
  
Normal POV  
  
His arms fell to his sides, and Hermione let out a breath of relief. She had never been so happy to see his dark grey eyes. So cold, so distant. But his own.  
  
He blinked rapidly, blond hair framing his face in a golden halo.  
  
"Draco!" Hermione threw herself in his arms, forgetting about her aches, her pains, the deatheaters. "Thank you, thank you," she repeated. She hugged him tightly. He chest was muscled from quidditch, but most surprisingly, he smelt of air. Draco exuded a sense of sunshine, of prairie grasses sighing in the wind, of strawberries.  
  
Unconsciously Hermione inhaled deeply. She had never given him a second thought from the cruel brat with money, and felt guilty. He wasn't too bad actually, she just had never given him a chance.  
  
Hermione felt two arms encircle her back. It was surprising what things brought people together. Hermione sniffed and looked at Draco's ear.  
  
"Thank you." She said sincerely, avoiding his gaze. Draco lifted her face up with his hand, and smiled at her, eyes sparkling with emotion.  
  
"Thank you, Hermione." He answered. The girl caught her breath. He looked so much like an angel, with a mysterious air. He looked so...  
  
....innocent.  
  
"Just as I thought." Lucius interrupted. Draco's expression darkened. Hermione felt a wave of sadness, as his innocence disappeared like smoke in the air. Draco let go of her, and turned to face his father.  
  
"Dumb crudhole." He muttered, not feeling like swearing in Hermione's presence.  
  
"Getting soft, eh?" Draco replied by shooting his dad a death glare. Lucius turned to George. "You were right, they're not weak enough to go under imperio." He smiled maliciously. "We'll leave them here for a few days, without food or water, and let's see if they'll cooperate." Lucius turned and stalked out of the room.  
  
George smirked at his daughter.  
  
"You understand, don't you Hermione?" then he followed Lucius out.  
  
Tears started streaming down Hermione's cheeks. Two arms immediately encircled her waist.  
  
"Draco, what are we going to do?" Draco leaned his head on hers, and felt his eyes moisten dangerously.  
  
"Don't worry." He comforted her, as one solitary tear fell from his eye.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: heehee.things are heating UP!!! what will happen now? How will out heroes escape?  
  
FIND OUT, on the NEXT chappie OF..  
  
LOD!!! (light of darkness)  
  
Until next time, good folks!  
  
DKC aka icy_flymn 


	9. ze plan is revealed!

A/N:  
  
REMEMBRANCE DAY  
  
I just want to say thank-you to all the war-veterans out there. *holds poppy* thx. Thank you for all you went through to keep the world free.  
  
We'll always remember.  
  
:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD  
  
Draco lover: thx! Must have more reviews..(slobbers for a while) :D  
  
Princess Gwendolen-(aka AKE) *bows to the Wb Hp ff site ((pretty confusing, no?) declared royalty* that's great! Whoo! I was never too sure bout that! :DDDDD merci beaucoup.  
  
Evillalmanotlamma(frogs: yep, what crazy crazy things will happen to out heroes now??? Dum dum dum dum!  
  
Chrissy: glad u like! Well, I'll try ta write faster now..  
  
Neways, here is the next chappie on-  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
"Imperio will take too long to work on those two!" a sussurous voice growled from the shadows.  
  
"But master." Two voices chorused in unison, both in flowing black robes.  
  
"No buts." The shadow ordered, as he folded his long fingers onto his lap. "You should be glad they're your children, or I would have killed you two long ago!" He flicked some nonexistent lint off his clothing, serpentine mouth furrowing into a smile.  
  
His two minions lay prostrate on the ground, bowing to him.  
  
"No," Voldemort continued, stretching his mouth wider into a hideous smile. "No, we will use the Diudomina potion. Much quicker. We need only to control them by day."  
  
Lucius and George bowed their heads. Their children brought it on themselves.  
  
~*~  
  
The morning sun cast harsh light into their prison cell, the glare giving them identical headaches. The damp cell did nothing to brighten their spirits, and the dismal hammering of the working chess pieces served to further darken their mood.  
  
Hermione cradled her head in her arms tiredly.  
  
"What are they going to do to us?"  
  
It had been two days since they had anything to eat, to drink or have any other companionship but eachother. The deatheaters meant business. The only water they had was rain had dripped past the iron grated window and streamed down the walls.  
  
Draco hugged her comfortingly. He wondered what had brought this change on him, why he showed his feelings. But most of all, why he didn't want to see Hermione hurt. The girl sniffed, and brought him back to his senses.  
  
"Don't worry, Hermione. It'll be alright in the end, you'll see." Draco's brow furrowed. "There must be something we both have in common, or they wouldn't pick us. There are plenty of deatheater children-" Hermione flinched at the term, "that could be suitable. What DO they want?"  
  
Hermione shrugged. The dark and damp affected her, and she couldn't seem to find the will to think. All she felt were the empty pangs in her stomach and her heart. She felt in a dark mood.  
  
Draco didn't give up that easily, and continued on with the subject.  
  
"School's almost started," he mused, "I hope somebody will notice our absence." Hermione didn't answer, just feeling content in his secure arms.  
  
Wait.since when did Malfoy have safe arms? He called her Mudblood, and tortured her for years, for goodness sake! She jerked out of his arms, and slumped next to the wall, feeling an unusual pang of loneliness.  
  
Draco frowned for an instant, a hurt feeling flitting across his eyes before they became guarded again. His previous thoughts of enjoying her company felt ridiculous. But, shrugging his feelings off, he continued with his train of thought.  
  
Suddenly he snapped his fingers.  
  
"I've got it!" he exclaimed, exuberant.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked guardedly.  
  
"Well, who is Voldemort afraid of?" Hermione flinched at You-Know-Who's name, and bit her dirty fingernail.  
  
".Dumbledore?."  
  
"Exactly!" he said, getting more and more excited. "Don't you see? Voldemort wants to get rid of Dumbledore! And who does Dumbledore trust?"  
  
"The teachers?..Draco, sorry to burst your bubble, but this has nothing to do with ANYTHING."  
  
"No, yes it does!! Other than the teachers, who does Dumbledore trust?"  
  
"I don't know!" Hermione was getting more frustrated, "Everybody! Me, the students, even YOU!!!" Hermione gasped in realization. Draco smiled triumphantly.  
  
"That's Voldemort's plan! Get Dumbledore through us! But why exactly us.." But Hermione had caught on, and was just as excited as Draco.  
  
"Draco, I'm the head girl! I'd be able to have a lot more power in Hogwarts than any other student. That's why they picked me! They didn't tell me who the Head Boy was so I don't know if he's saf-" Draco smiled, and put a finger to her lips.  
  
"I'm the head boy." He confessed, grinning. Hermione grinned too, although there was no real reason to. His skin was cool, but not clammy. Hermione's mouth began to tingle slightly, and Draco lowered his hand. Hermione cheeks reddened, but she sustained the conversation.  
  
"So that means..." Hermione started. Draco nodded.  
  
"They want to put the Imperio charm on us so that they can control what we do. They're probably planning something big during the school year."  
  
Hermione's eyes widened, as a thought came to her. "They probably thought some teenagers would be easier to control that full-blown witches and wizards."  
  
Suddenly, with a heroic cry, the knight chess piece jumped off the window sill, holding the queen tightly around the waist. The iron grate tumbled down noisily behind them.  
  
Within the instant, Draco had picked up Hermione, and was jumping up and down with elation. "We're free!" he kept repeating, bouncing around. Hermione laughed, suddenly reminded of her skating partner. Could Malfoy be.?  
  
After much more celebration, Draco lifted Hermione up to the window.  
  
"Ladies first." He said with a smirk. Hermione bit back the obvious cliché response, (then you should go first, draco.), and grinned at the thought of telling him. She pulled her weight onto her elbows, and grappled at the slick stone walls with her feet. Strenuously, with super-human strength (this is where Draco disagrees), Hermione hoisted herself up and out of the cell.  
  
The sunlight glared in her eyes, but Hermione had never felt happier. She twirled around in the morning breeze, breathing in deeply.  
  
"Forgot me already, Granger?" came a sarcastic smirk from the open window. "Granger?" Draco asked again, but received no answer. Smiling at her joke, he jumped up and the wall, and clambered through the window.  
  
What he saw made his jaw drop.  
  
He fell onto the ground on all fours when the fist connected with his jaw. Hermione was being beaten up by two deatheaters, and without knowing what he was doing, Draco made a lunge for her.  
  
He fell back with a foot collided with his chin, and he spat out blood that was collecting in his throat.  
  
"NO!" he yelled, and fought, bit and punched his way through the death eaters that were holding him back. He ran towards the Gryffindor girl, and felt his arms yanked back in a death grip. Two iron-strong arms clamped on his bruised mouth and prised it open.  
  
"Let me go!" he slobbered trying to bite and struggled from his captors. Suddenly he felt a liquid being poured down his throat.  
  
At first it was welcome, moistening his parched tongue.  
  
Then it started to choke him, constricting his throat with effortless precision.  
  
As if on cue, the six deatheaters withdrew from the convulsing teenagers, watching the effects of the Diudominus potion with glee.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: that's it's for this chappie! Tune in next time for more chappies on..  
  
LOD!!!! (light of darkness)  
  
Harr harr, have fun and review!!!!!!!!  
  
:DDDDDDDDDDD 


	10. red eyes, red eyes, everywhere!

A/N: I think I have 10,000 words after I post this chappie!!! WOOhhooo! *waves small pro-dkc flag* :DD yay!! Go ten grand words!!!  
  
Er....i'm hopin' that made sense..  
  
ARGH!! Can YOU BeLieVe my French teacher??? She gave us SOOO much HMWK!! And she keeps saying we have to catch up!! TO What?? I ask you? Ackkkk.. *waves fist @ various teachers*  
  
Ah wells..BACk to RevieWerS!!!  
  
Chrissy: Wow, thx!! *smiles widely* heeeheee.thank you, read again *apu nahasapenapetilan? accent*  
  
Felicity: I've got another chappie up now, so read oN!!! :DDD  
  
WolfSapphire200: :) yes sir! (madam) not sure which! I have ze next chappie!  
  
Crystalline Lily: Just to prove I'm not EVIL...lol...I'm gonna end this chappie only as a PARTIAL cliffie, and not a CRAZIE annoying cliffie.:)  
  
Draco Lover: my faithful reviewer (lolz) alright next chappie is UP!! :) :) :)  
  
Evillalmanotlamma(frogs: hey hey hey! I can write ur name without looking!! *bows snootily* hehe...so many reviews from u too!!! *smiles even wider, if that's humanly possible.*  
  
OkEE...have fun READING! :)  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Hermione sat bolt upright, madly opening her eyes in a second. Where was she? Her frantic gaze searched the room. She was in her bedroom? Hermione squinted her eyes at the clock, and shook her head to clear it.  
  
5:48 AM.  
  
Had it all been a dream?  
  
Groggily, Hermione rolled herself out of her bed, and walked out onto her balcony. As a child, she had loved to watch the sunrise, and Hermione positioned herself comfortably on her porch chair.  
  
The rising of the sun began to calm Hermione down, and seemed to spirit all her worries away. By the time the cheery sun had made it from behind the mountains, Hermione was humming a tune. Skating, capture, it all seemed to be so far away, tucked into a minute part of her mind where it would never be heard of again.  
  
If anybody had seen her, they would have sworn her eyes were shining red. But then, they would have blamed it on the sunlight.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco sauntered his way into Madame Malkim's everyday dress robes, holding tightly onto a hand that clung to his own.  
  
"Drako? Yu know what? I'm going to be just like yous when I grow up." His little sister looked up at him, smiling innocently, two front teeth missing. She was five. Draco wanted to grin, but instead, he was gripped by an uncontrollable desire to scoff at his sister's face.  
  
"Rumina," he started, using her full name, "You know how little I care about what you say? You're just an annoying inconvenience to me. You are an insignificant brat, who can't even pronounce my name correctly." She started to cry, and Draco was stunned. What had made him say that? Was that him?  
  
He knew he was missing something, and buried himself deeper in his thoughts, brow creased. But it was no use, his thoughts were surrounded by a shroud of haziness, and he couldn't seem to focus. He knew there was something, he just had to find the ke-  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Potty and his crew. Draco felt slightly guilty that his sister was crying beside him. Old witches walking by shook their heads at him disapprovingly.  
  
Draco ignored them, but couldn't seem to bring himself to comfort Rumina. He frowned, but couldn't seem to move his body. Draco started stuggling within himself, but his body did not move, and the calm façade on his face did not change.  
  
"Come on." He heard himself order, closing his hand over his sister's arm and yanking her into the shop. "Even though I have to 'show you around' Diagon alley doesn't mean I have to cater to your every wish."  
  
Rumina twisted her wrist in his iron grip, teeth clenched and rivers of tears running from her eyes.  
  
"Draco!" the boy groaned, and turned to see the Boy Who Lived To Cheese Him Off. "Let go of that girl!" Draco felt his lips turn out into a smile.  
  
"Yeah? And what are you going to do if I don't?"  
  
~*~  
  
"Mister Potter!" Snape had turned around the corner of Knockturn alley, and was now holding the BWL(boy who lived) by his ear. "What exactly were you trying to do?"  
  
Draco stood smugly in front of them, releasing his hold on his wailing sister and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Suprisingly, he was unscathed, and didn't seem to be affected by the spells that Harry sent at him. His wand remained in his hand, and he wasn't spitting out slugs on all fours.  
  
Harry on the other hand, had lost. His wand lay a few feet away from him, his hair was frizzled, and he was locked in a total body curse.  
  
Presently Harry stared at the slimy face of Snape and gulped. His mouth was also magicked shut.  
  
"Oh please, Potter." Snape said exasperatedly, loosening his hold on Harry's ear. "Finite Incantem!" (A/N: actually I'm not too sure if that's right, so if it's not, feel free to tell me! :)) Harry gasped for air like a fish, intense green eyes widening with relief. Draco snickered at his arch enemy. Snape turned his gaze on Draco.  
  
"What are you trying to do?" His eyes were flashing with anger. "If it were any other teacher you would be expelled!" Harry took a step back in surprise. Since when did Snape go around protecting Gryffindors? Draco also looked taken aback for a moment.  
  
Then he smiled.  
  
It was a horrible one, more horrible that Harry had ever seen him have. It looked like...Voldemort's grin. Harry blinked rapidly. His head was spinning. For an instant he was sure Draco's eyes had turned red.  
  
"Move along, Severus." The blond now ordered, his voice dripping with authority. "Move along, Severus, if you value your skin. Before I tell the Dark Lord. Run." He smiled again, teeth flashing in the summer sun.  
  
It was Snape's turn to look surprise. His eyes bulged out dangerously from their sockets, and Harry took another step backwards. Suddenly Snape visibly relaxed, and squinted at Draco for an instant, thoughtful.  
  
With a flourish, the oily-haired man swept away.  
  
~*~  
  
"DID you see that?" Harry asked Hermione and Ron.  
  
"What?" Ron asked, rubbing his ear with a hand. "Just seeing Snape hold you by the ear made mine hurt." Harry frowned at him and continued.  
  
"No, really, you two, did you see Malfoy's eyes turn red?" Hermione's eyes snapped up to look at him. Ron kept scratching at his ear.  
  
"You guys, really, my ear hurts." He told them-if it was at all possible, and I think it was-senilely. Hermione ignored him. Harry looked briefly at his perfectly normal ear before he turned his gaze back to Hermione.  
  
"Did you?"  
  
"What?" Hermione asked irritably.  
  
"See that his eyes were red." Harry answered carefully.  
  
"No. Anything wrong with that?" She asked, challenging. Harry glanced briefly at Ron, with a "Somebody Woke Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed Today" look. Ron continued to rub his ear, and Harry rolled his eyes unnoticeably.  
  
"No, nothing, Hermione." He answered casually and tentatively. Hermione nodded, and continued with the conversation as if nothing had happened.  
  
~*~  
  
"That boy!" the man slammed his fist on his stone dais angrily.  
  
"What is it, master?" A cowering figure beside him asked nervously, bald head shining in the torchlight.  
  
"He is a nuisance! How am I supposed to act civil to that idiot!?" His red eyes snapped angrily.  
  
"You are perfect master, you can do anything." The crouching man said forlornly, his blue energy hand touching his master's boot.  
  
"Do Not lay your GRImy fingers on me, Wormtail!" The man on the dais shouted, kicking his servant in the chin, and sending him backwards. Wormtail hit the wall with a muted exclamation of pain.  
  
"I'm sorry master," he gasped out, eyes gleaming and flickering about the room. Voldemort nodded curtly, and sent a silencing charm toward Wormtail.  
  
"Now, about Snape and his disloyalty..." Voldemort's chuckles echoed around the room and up through the chimney.  
  
Smoke winded out slowly from the mountain top.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: WHAT is this Diudominus potion?? What is with the RED eyes??? Will the Boy Who Lived To Solve Crazy Mysteries Like The One In My Story be able to solve the crazy mystery in my story???  
  
Er...blame that on too many tests...  
  
Anyways, REVIEW!!!!! :) 


	11. diudominus begins and sEcReTs shhhh!

A/N: I AM BACK!!!! :DDDDD  
  
Heehee..whoa for a while there I didn't updatez for a whilez..  
  
Hey u guys tell me if I'm dragging out this DIUDOMINUS POTION MYSTERY thing out too much, and I'll speed it up!! Kaysie?  
  
Draco Lover: You Are SOO RIGHT!!!! Tests ARE BAD!! Argh.*shakes fist @ the person who invented tests* heehee.review, review, review! :)  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
That day, Draco sat on his porch, coldly sipping some butterbeer from a cup at his hand. He wore only his shorts, a small towel slung over his shoulder. The boy watched the sun set slowly on the horizon and grimaced. Guessing he was tired from Rumina's whining, he strolled calmly to his bed.  
  
The last rays of sunlight disappeared beneath the mountain, and the sky became dark.  
  
Draco suddenly doubled over, clutching at his gut. Thousands of slugs started pouring out of his mouth, and he felt dizzy and light headed. His knees collapsed, and he hung onto his bedpost to avoid flopping onto his face.  
  
A single rat scuttled from its perch on his windowsill.  
  
Everything rushed back at him. What had happened? What was happening? His legs felt leaden, and his arms felt like they weighed a tonne. How was Hermione? Had he seen her today?  
  
He couldn't remember anything...did...did Rumina cry? He felt another wave of guilt for his young sister. She didn't deserve any of this. She shouldn't have been a Malfoy. He grunted as another memory took hold of him.  
  
The deatheaters...they had rushed them..  
  
Draco couldn't remember anything else, it was all blank...he concentrated hard on his thoughts, and remembered liquid...pain...  
  
A potion?  
  
Draco suddenly curled up as his body was wracked with another convulsion of slugs. How did he get these spells on him? His eyes narrowed in hate. It must have been Lucius. Darn it!  
  
He hated that man.  
  
Draco released his hold on the bed, and started to drag himself on his stomach to his bookshelf. There must be something on the dark arts in there, he thought to himself, grimacing as the cold stone floor contacted his bare chest.  
  
Desperately he reached the bottom of his bookcase. He could see the dark blue book on forbidden potions on the bottom shelf; so close, yet so far away. If he could just reach...  
  
Draco's head slumped back onto the stones of the floor, his eyes rolled back into his head. A dark cut appeared above his shoulder, the flesh around it becoming pink with infection.  
  
~*~  
  
"The boy is trying to fight it, master." Wormtail said nervously, glancing around the room.  
  
"But he cannot. The Diudominus is too strong for a mere boy to overpower, he is merely punished, besides, he cannot do anything at night." The snake- faced man answered sneeringly. Wormtail's eyes darted around.  
  
"Yes, yes, you are always right, master, how foolish of me, how foolish." Voldemort nodded in agreement, then paused. He thought for a moment.  
  
"What about the Head Girl? How is she doing?"  
  
"Well master." Wormtail started to explain.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione sat cross-legged on her bed, checking over her suitcases. She had already finished packing a long time ago, and nonchalantly riffled around her clothes. Tomorrow she was going to board the Hogwarts express for her last year at The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
She blew a strand of hair from her eyes, and glanced at her watch. 8 o' clock. Great, Hermione thought. The sun must be finally setting. Darn that sunlight. It made each day last so much longer.  
  
She stood up on her bed, dusting off her pants.  
  
Suddenly she lost her balance, and fell off the bed. She nicked her eyebrow on the corner of her bureau drawer.  
  
"You have fun tomorrow!" Her dad tucked his head in past the door to check up on her. His eyes gleamed with expectance, as he watched his daughter.  
  
Hermione snapped her head back up, blood running down past her eyes and dripping past her cheek. A sudden look of realization hit her, and she struggled back to a sitting position. Everything that had happened. It hadn't been a dream.  
  
Hermione turned her bitter gaze back at her father. He stood in the same position, eyes watching the effects of the potion.  
  
"Leave." She said quietly, voice deadly quiet.  
  
"I don't think so, my daughter." He answered, grinning.  
  
"Leave." She repeated, teeth clenched. Shooting pains shot up and down her spine, and she couldn't seem to move. What kind of spell was this?  
  
Her dad stared at her.  
  
"Concito." Hermione growled low in her throat, pain throbbing inside her soul. Her dad flew violently backwards, out of her room. He slammed against the wall, eyes glazed over.  
  
Hermione frowned grimly. He deserved it.  
  
Her wand fell out of her weak hand and rolled underneath the floor. Hermione slumped in the ground in defeat.  
  
Her heart felt it was going to explode. She had to sleep...to sleeppp...she felt exhausted. Maybe, just maybe, she could rest her eyes...  
  
No.  
  
Hermione forced herself back into a half reclining position. Her eyes bloodshot and her breath coming fast.  
  
"Voldemort," she growled, for once using his first name. "Voldemort. I don't know what you did, but I promise you, I promise you that you will be gone before I am." The last word ended in a gutteral choke, as Hermione fell back onto the floor, unconscious.  
  
~*~  
  
'Trini clasped her hands in her lap, fidgeting. Should she tell him? Should she? She just didn't know. He had been acting so strange lately...did he find out? But there was no way, she tried to calm herself, hands still fidgeting in her lap. Yes? No? Yes?  
  
Yes. She would tell him. She would, she was sure of it.  
  
"Katrina?" Her husband rounded the corner, a bruise forming at his brow. Katrina withdrew a breath of air.  
  
"Oh my goodness, George, are you alright?" She raced to his side. He sat in a chair, cradling his head in his palm. "George?" She asked again, trying to get a closer look at his injury.  
  
"Go AWAY, WOMAN!!" He suddenly screamed at her, voice cracking. Katrina's eyes filled with tears, but suddenly deciding, she ran a hand down his cheek. He instantly calmed, and started to close his eyelids.  
  
"I'm so tired, 'Trini."  
  
"Shh, now, just sleep, okay?" Katrina sat down beside her husband, and laid his head on her lap. "Shh.." Tears started dripping from her eyes, and fell on her husband's closed eyelids.  
  
No, it wasn't time to tell him.  
  
Katrina watched, sniffling, as the bruise on his eyebrow disappeared rapidly.  
  
No.  
  
It wasn't the time to tell him she was a Rellwing.  
  
No.  
  
And it wasn't the time to tell him that Hermione...  
  
...that Hermione might not be his.  
  
Katrina closed her eyes, and turned her face to the ceiling.  
  
"Please forgive me." She whispered to her husband's sleeping form, and collapsed in his chest, weeping her heart out.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: that's all for now!!1  
  
TOOTLES until next CHAPPIE!! REVIEW!!!!! :DDDDDDDDDDDD 


	12. rellwings and rats

A/N: REVIEW, YOU GUYS!!!  
  
*drool flying outta mouth* must have more reviews, heheh, more!!!1  
  
okkee dokee.newayz ppl, REVIEW to YOUR CONTENT! Er..yeah I think that's right...right? I HAVE A QUESTION: ahem...ahem...ok...you guys don't think I'm dragging ze mysterie out toooooo long, right? RIGHT??? *silence* O.o..ok then..  
  
Felicity: I hope this kindof clears things up for ya.tell me if u have suggestions!!! :)  
  
Draco Lover: A person who doesn't need any introductions.heeheee hope this satisfies ur curious tooth!  
  
Hermione18: here's ze next chappie, pour vous!  
  
Goosefeathers: muchos gracias *er..espagnol*, mon ami(e) *francais!* Lis beaucoup de LOD, d'accord? Heehee.nah, I'm very horrible at francais, and I didn't really get the last sentence.is it * there are many ppl who I think are not English* (in ur review) newayz, thx!!  
  
zoogerbaz1: rellwings are.*static, static* hehe.nah read ON, and u'll find out!  
  
Tiger3088: MaNy numbers! Neways, don't ExpLoDE on me!! Here's ze next chappie!! (thx, btw)  
  
crazyone16: here's another chappiemeronie!!  
  
Sakura Naoko: well, 'ope u like this chappie as well!  
  
mystic child of darkness: heehee.I just LOVE leaving at cliffies...they're the most fun! *ppl boo and throw rotten fruit* newayz, review!  
  
Heehee.wellz, daz it for ze A/N:..here goes...  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Draco stood up stiffly, and wiped his hands on his pants. He rolled his eyes. That conscience-minded klutz was so ignorant. Really. Trying to overcome the Diudominus? The silver-blond boy blew a bang from his eye frustratedly. Suddenly he tapped one of his temples, just above his left ear.  
  
"Master," he whispered, "Are you there?" An image of Voldemort sitting on a stone throne sailed into Draco's mind.  
  
"Yes, my heir?" The snake-faced man asked respectfully.  
  
"What is it you would have me do?"  
  
Voldemort smiled nastily.  
  
"You know who your partner is?" The man asked, ignoring the boy's question.  
  
"Yes, George Ranger's daughter, Hermione." In his eye's mind Draco saw the man nod in amazement.  
  
"You know a lot, Draco." Voldemort smirked, proud (if he could be) of his heir. Draco bowed. "Yes, George Ranger has been parading around as a muggle for a decade, more even. He has been called...ah..."  
  
"Granger. George Granger." Draco nodded appreciatively at the whole family's guile. "So THAT's why all the Rangers disappeared without a trace."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"So what is it?" Draco pressed on. Voldemort looked confused. It was a horrific sight. Draco answered by smirking at his beneficiary.  
  
"What is it you want me to do?" he asked more slowly. A frown crept onto Voldemort's face, but was quickly replaced with another greasy grin.  
  
"Cause havoc. Anything to please you." He tapped his chin gently. "Although you need to watch out. Word says they have an Auror as one of their teachers." Draco nodded as Voldemort continued. "Just don't let Dumbledore catch on. Tell Ranger." Draco nodded once again, and slowly let the image of his master fade from his mind's eye.  
  
~*~  
  
Katrina sat quietly on her couch. George was out and Hermione had gone for another year at Hogwarts. Her last year.  
  
Katrina sighed and shifted her position on the sofa, digging her cold feet into the cracks between the cushions. Suddenly seized by a strange desire, she stood up. The woman raised her hands into the sky, and closed her eyes. A bright light shot from the window, and immersed her whole body.  
  
The light lasted for a few seconds, and left the room with an airy feeling.  
  
In Katrina's place stood a tall woman, dark black hair hanging past her shoulders. The sunlight gave it a purplish tinge, and suddenly the woman put a hand to her temple. She staggered a bit, and held on to the bureau drawer to steady herself. From her back burst two light blue wings, glittering snowily in the late afternoon light.  
  
Her clothing had been replaced with a simple dark purple waist-skirt, which skittered around her calves as if a breeze blew it. She wore also a loose sleeveless white shirt, also blowing in an imaginary wind.  
  
"Mother." She called despairingly.  
  
There was an instant shimmering in front of Katrina, and a woman that looked like an older version her, but with blond hair appeared. The woman held her daughter's hands in her own, and smiled.  
  
"Trina." The older woman smiled gently, "Don't give up hope. Little Hermione may still prove herself to have Rellwing blood in her yet." Katrina folded her wings behind her, and strode around the room with her long legs.  
  
"But are you sure it will work?" Katrina turned her haunted eyes to her mother. "You are sure Hermione will not be hurt?" Her mother nodded gently.  
  
"You gave her the pendants, right? Then we know for sure that the Dark Lord has not contacted her or the others." Katrina withdrew her breath in horror. Shaking, she pulled two elegant necklaces from her pocket.  
  
"I..." Her mother's eyes widened.  
  
"Oh no, Oh no." The older woman kept repeating, glancing at the pendants clutched in her daughter's hands. She put her head in her hands and sat down on the couch huffily.  
  
Finally her mother calmed down, and looked up at Katrina. "There is nothing we can do then, my daughter. I'm sorry. If we help the two of them, the Dark Lord will know the Rellwings are getting involved, and turning against him."  
  
"You must!" Katrina burst out, clutching the pendants to her chest. "Who knows WhAt spell Voldemort has placed them under? I'll fly over there and send these to her myself!" Katrina unfurled her wings to take off. Standing up swiftly, her mother put a death-grip on her.  
  
"No, daughter." She said calmly and forcefully. "The seers know that the princess and her cohort are the only ones who can stop Voldemort. The plan was to set them out as bait for him, and have a Rellwing army at the wings to fight with the deatheaters. We can't back off now." She said sternly.  
  
"But mother-"  
  
"NO. If Voldemort knows the Rellwings have turned on him, he won't rest until we're all dead. WE CAN'T have that happen. It'll put Hermione in danger, Katrina."  
  
"Dumbledore-"  
  
"No. Nobody must know. This is a gamble already, Katrina. One false move and everything we've worked for will be down the drain." Katrina sat down on the couch, flickering back to her human form. Her mother's eyes softened, and she put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, my daughter. I don't want Hermione hurt either. But this is the only way."  
  
Her mother took a step back, and flickered back into her own human form.  
  
"Be very careful, my daughter." The woman sighed loudly. "I have doubts about George's loyalty." Katrina had her head in her hands, and nodded miserably. With one last goodbye, her mother disappeared.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione sat in the window seat, watching the scenery flip by in a instant. She rubbed her head from the bright light shining from the sun. Beside her Harry and Ron were talking about quidditch. Ron became the chaser of the Gryffindor team last year. Harry was going to find out if he was the captain.  
  
Finally the two boys (A/N: H and R are just SOOO unobservant) noticed Hermione wasn't talking. (A/n: FINALLY!!! She's just been sitting there silent for HALF of the whole DANg ride!)  
  
"Hermione, how was your summer?" Hermione shrugged vaguely, mind already trying to think up some alibi.  
  
"I went to visit my cousin...who is a...muggle." Hermione finished proudly. It was foolproof. "I didn't want her to see me writing with quills and have owls banging on the windows, so I never replied." She continued, getting into her own lie.  
  
'Keep it simple.' Voldemort's voice growled in her head.  
  
'Yeah, yeah, put a sock in it, Voldie.' Hermione shot back in her mind. Voldemort was silent, and Hermione grinned.  
  
"Hermione?" Harry asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Hermione looked at him and his slightly suspicious expression.  
  
"Yes?" Hermione asked innocently. It was time to be like sugar. (A/N: sweet, not the ytv girl)  
  
Suddenly they were interrupted as Ron leapt up from his seat, scattering chocolate frogs everywhere. Ron turned his crazed gaze on both of them, red hair flaming, and eyes glinting in horror. What he said made Hermione and Harry both pale quickly.  
  
"SCABBERS!" he shrieked, knocking both his friends on the knees in a frantic attempt to escape. "Scabbers was by the window, I SWEAR! Crap!" Suddenly Harry's eyes hardened with anger.  
  
"PETER PETTIGREW!!!" he scowled, lunging back to their seats where a rat was trying to make itself dissapear into the red carpet. Harry's eyes went manic, and he tried to grab the small mousy form of the sick-looking rat.  
  
"Pettigrew! I swore I would KILL you if I ever saw you again! Where are you, YOU PIECE OF VERMIN!" The rat started to scamper away, but the enraged BWL wasn't about to stop spouting profanity substitutes. (A/N: eg. friggin', dang) "You FrIGgin' helped Voldemort escape! You KILLED YOUR FRIENDS, mY PaRENts, LILy and JAMES POTTER! You BETRAyed them, You ARSE!!"  
  
Suddenly his voice went deathly quiet, and he whipped his hand into his pants pocket. In his hand he clutched a slender willow wand.  
  
"Goodbye, Wormtail." He said, aiming a dark green beam at the rat.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: will hp be a killer? Whoa, tell meh if u think this is bad, b/c I wrote it with a HUGE writer's block, so it might not make sense, or anything. Okee? Well, if u wanna know what happens, tune in Next time for another chappie of LOD!!  
  
Signing out,  
  
dkc aka icy flymn 


	13. crazy dumbledore and his crazy ideas

A/N: Almost to the better chappies..bear with me now!!!! Ok.to the RevIewERs!!!!!  
  
Chloe: heehee.thx a bunch!  
  
Jen Drake: okee dokee madameronie!  
  
freakyleopard: hehehahahamuahahah! Cliffies!! GOO cliffies!!! Merha! :DDD thx for ze reviews!  
  
Hermione18: :D thank you beaucoup!  
  
Felicity: erm...how can I explain w/o giving the plot away..sO.Hermione is a rellwing, and she *might* be the princess...kay? Hermione and Draco are still under the diudominus potion, and they're acting CLAZY!! *don't worry, there WILL be fluff soon* and then...we dun know if George is Herm's real dad..and...Hermione and her *cohort* hint hint...are part of the rellwing's plan to overthrow voldie..that's about it..kay?  
  
Draco Lover: MWAHA!!! Hehe.I got NO reason to snicker, cuz I'm gonna tell u if harry kills wormtail in this chappie.but still.MWAHA! RevieW!!!! I LUV reviews!! :DDD thx a WHOLE LOT!!!  
  
Demon Wolf: Acko!! U REAlly dun like HARRY!! Hmmm..i never really liked that crazy BWL either..Well..i'll think about ur suggestion...*later chappies* hehehee.Thx for the ReviEWs!!!!!  
  
girl-malfoy: thx with a cherry on top! :)  
  
END OF A/N!!! *u hear ppl cheering*  
  
Humph! Lolz..  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Hermione looked frantically around, she couldn't let Wormtail be killed yet, he could be of use to her. Shooting her gaze at Ron, who was pounding on the door, too panicked to try the doorknob, and Harry, who looked ready to kill, she made up her mind.  
  
The BWL had never looked that angry before in his life. Hermione's quick eyes caught Harry whip a wand from underneath her robes, and she had to act fast.  
  
"Stupefy!" She shouted, just as a dark green beam shot from the BWL's wand to the recoiling rat. Harry fell onto the ground, in a daze. Ron turned around at the commotion, and Hermione stupefied him before he could see anything.  
  
Brown eyes flaming, Hermione stalked the rat, and started to step over the sleeping Potter. 'Oh what the hey' she thought, and stepped on Harry's stomach, anger emanating from her in waves.  
  
"Wormtail." She greeted coldly. So Voldemort didn't trust them yet, did he? She scowled momentarily. Picking up the rat, she held it tightly clamped in one hand. With the other, she pried open the window.  
  
"Have a nice flight, Pettigrew." With those last words, Hermione threw the rat out of the window. Pettigrew flailed around for a moment (A/N: just picture a rat trying to fly), and was gone from sight. Hermione had no fear that she'd be seeing that wormy thing again. All that mattered was it was gone for now.  
  
She dusted off her hands, satisfied.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco slowly entered the cubicle, and saw Hermione unceremoniously dumping an unconscious Harry onto a bench.  
  
"Need any help, Ranger?" He asked, by way of starting the conversation. Without waiting for an answer, he picked up the lanky form of Ron and threw him beside the BWL.  
  
"It's Granger, Malfoy." She answered simply.  
  
"So the master didn't tell you yet? You're a Ranger. You should know all about their colourful history." Draco put his hands on his hips, smirking at her. Hermione squinted her eyes in annoyance, not wanting to admit her ignorance. She didn't really care about the switch in last names.  
  
"Why are you here, Malfoy?" she asked, squinting at the boy.  
  
"Well."  
  
Malfoy sat down luxuriously and rested his feet on the bench in front of him. He drawled out the Dark Lord's plans to Hermione, yawning frequently with boredom.  
  
~*~  
  
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he led the two seventh years to their new rooms.  
  
"So, since you are Head Boy and Girl, you two get your own suite! Hermione, yours is on the right, and Draco, yours to the left. There are each four portals in your rooms, one for each of the houses. You get all free access to all the common rooms." If it was at all possible, his eyes started twinkling more brightly.  
  
"And here comes the good part." He licked his lips, looking like he had an evil plan which would make Draco and Hermione embarrassed. The two of them looked on coldly at the crazy old man.  
  
"The password is what you feel deep inside your heart for the other Head. (boy or girl.)" The crazy old man suddenly smiled wider. "The catch is, you cannot talk for the rest of the day unless you have told at least one other person what you have said to the door." Draco glared at the old man, totally confused.  
  
"A demonstration." Dumbledore suddenly said.  
  
He lightly touched the door, and his mouth started to speak on its own accord.  
  
"Arabella Figgs is hOt!" Draco put his hands over his ears.  
  
"TOO much information!" he burst out. Dumbledore turned a red and dazed face at them, and tried to speak, but nothing came out. He made a movement with his hands that he thought said 'see? I can't talk unless I tell somebody else what I just said!' and smiled widely. Draco thought he was having a stroke.  
  
"Arabella Figgs is hOt!" Dumbledore repeated to them. "See," he said, "Now I can talk again, since I told you two what I told the door!" (A/N; Not tOO confusing, ne?) Headmaster TwinkleEye's eyes twinkled some more. "I'll leave you two to get to know eachother!" he said, and walked away, midnight blue cloak sweeping out behind him.  
  
~*~  
  
Just after he left, Hermione and Draco both collapsed on the ground. They were back to normal, again. Draco knew he had to talk to Hermione about what happened to them, about why he couldn't remember anything during the day...  
  
But one glance at her, and all his thoughts flew out the window, except one. She was-  
  
He couldn't seem to think of anything but her, her brown bushy hair falling past her face to cover her expression. Gently, he lifted her chin up with one hand. Draco's eyes glanced at Hermione's and he held hers with his, almost in a trance. He could stay like this forever, letting himself fall into those warm brown depths called eyes. He never wanted to move again. Slowly, ever so slowly, he put his hand on the door.  
  
"Hermione is beautiful." He breathed softly. "You are beautiful." He repeated again, and touched her chin again with a feather-light finger, brushing away a tear that started to form in the corner of her eye.  
  
A shiver ran up Hermione's spine. She forgot all about the pain that was quickly suffusing her body. She forgot about everything...but the boy in front of her. Her chin tingled where he had touched it, and she unconsciously brushed her hand underneath her mouth. Again he looked like an angel.  
  
She touched the door to their common room lightly. Her breath came rapidly past her throat, and she held eye contact with him.  
  
"Draco is perfect." She whispered. The door opened slowly behind them, screeching on it's hinges. The two teenagers ignored it, still too absorbed in eachother. Suddenly Draco's face was millimeters away from her own. His gray orbs never looked so open.  
  
Draco suddenly tilted his head to the side, just as Hermione leaned in. Midway, Hermione stopped, and looked at him in surprise. Draco, averting his face, slowly stood up. There was a strange emptiness inside him, but he knew what he had to do.  
  
He turned to go into the common room. Suddenly he felt a tap behind him, and felt a body crushed against his own.  
  
"Draco...is perfect." Hermione breathed in his ear, voice tickling the back of his neck, and sending goosebumps up and down his skin.  
  
"I-" he started. Hermione put a hand to his lips, all the while staring into his eyes.  
  
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and their trance was broken. Hermione blinked rapidly a few times and dug around for her wand. Draco rubbed his eyes a few times.  
  
"Dra-Malfoy...Does your body feel like it weighs 1000 pounds?" Hermione asked professionally, trying to keep a quaver from her voice. Draco nodded, throwing himself onto a green chair in their common room. "Ok then..." Hermione continued, pointing her wand at him. "Flabilis Aerius." She said, and sent a light blue beam at the boy, then doing the same to herself.  
  
"What is it, Granger?" He asked, feeling a hundred times lighter, and looked at her sadly. He couldn't get close to her...ever. He couldn't trust himself...he...was a Malfoy.  
  
"It makes everything lighter, like air." She told him, then headed for the door. She quickly shooed a confused and worried Potter away, and returned to Draco. She seated herself on a cozy red and gold chair. Then she looked over at Draco's hunched form.  
  
"So..." She started, not knowing how to begin.  
  
"So..." Malfoy joined in quietly.  
  
Hermione looked at Draco, his eyes so sad. Why was he so unhappy? She wanted to put her arms around him, to comfort him, to hear him laugh...  
  
But what was she thinking about? She had more important things at hand. Like finding out the spell that the Deatheaters had put them under and a way to counter it. Hermione blushed slightly, glad at the darkness in the room.  
  
She had already lost control of her emotions before, at the door, and she wasn't going to do the same thing again. Unbidden, her thoughts went back to what had happened moments before.  
  
He had been so close.had he meant to kiss her? She didn't know what she would've done, but she had a hunch. And the answer scared her to death.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: that's it for now~ I hope you enjoyed this chappie!! It's not going TOO fast, right? Neways, must go do a mural for English now.  
  
Until the next chappie!! :) 


	14. Draco's indecision & SADNESS! AKA crazy ...

A/N: ok, REVIEW PLZ must HAVE MORE REVIEWS!! MERHa!!!  
  
ozze: wow, thx! I'm so happy you like me story!!! :DDDD  
  
draco lover: hehee.thanx! Yup yup, they are GONNa figure out SOME stuff *next chappie, prolly* yaya!! REVIEW!! (but I dun need ta say that to u, eh?..lols.)  
  
eco815: thank u very muchios!! Glad u like!! :DD heehee..review!!  
  
Felicity: ok well, read on plz! Thx for ur suggestion!! (excuse I made up on the spot: ok, maybe ron could recognize scabbers cuz he had him for a pet for nine years? I dunno..) newayz, review and suggest!  
  
Hermione18: another chappie updated for your reading!! :D hope u likee it!  
  
Hehe...neways.. this chappie starts out with a FLASHBACK of Draco's childhood...so here goes...  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Small Draco swung his arms around happily. He held a small blue bear closely to his chest, and his gray eyes sparkled with warmth. His short blond hair was very pale, though streaked with some other colours of striking sun yellow. There were a few teeth missing from his mouth, but the little boy didn't care at all, smiling crazily.  
  
"Can't catch me, mommy!" He called to the blonde woman in front of him, as he climbed on top of his bed. His voice was soft, sweet, and smiling. Narcissa smiled at her 'little dragon' and let him run away from her again, laughing all the while. His laughter echoed down the hallway, and grinning slightly to herself, Narcissa went to go follow her son.  
  
Suddenly a small anguished wail rent threw the air, and Narcissa's expression darkened. She began to run towards the muted cries of her son, and found him crying in the hallway. In front of him, Lucius stood with his bear.  
  
"Daddy, daddy, no daddy!" the small boy was whimpering, blond hair flying freely around his cherubic cheeks. Lucius sneer at his son. "Daddy!" Draco cried again, and raised a tear stained face to his father. A bruise was developing underneath his eye. "Give me back Erebus, Daddy," he said, indicating his bear. Lucius sneered, and dangled the stuffed animal right out of reach of his son. Draco started jumping for it, and each time Lucius raised it higher. He laughed cruelly.  
  
Narcissa's heart broke, and started to towards her son. Lucius suddenly turned his gaze on her.  
  
"You, Glacios." He said, pointing a wand at her. Narcissa was suddenly motionless, and couldn't move an inch. Her eyes rolled around frantically.  
  
"What did you do, daddy?" Draco suddenly broke in, his gray eyes widening with betrayal.  
  
"Never mind her, I'm teaching her a lesson. The same thing I'm teaching you." Lucius continued, and stared hardly at his son. "This is what you get for caring about something." He said, and ripped the bear in half. Bits of white cotton drifted to Draco's startled face.  
  
"Daddy..." he cried, voice breaking with tears. Suddenly he ran to his mother, and hugged her frozen body. "Mommy, mommy, come back mommy, mommy! I need you, MOMMY!!" he wailed, and started to cry even harder. Tears began to drip past Narcissa's cheeks. Her heart was breaking.  
  
"Draco!" Lucius snarled, and with one hand whipped the little body around. Simultaneously Draco felt a sharp blow to his left cheek. He was flung to the ground from the impact, and raised a hand to his reddened face.  
  
"GO!" Lucius commanded, and held onto the boy's free-flying shoulder- length hair. "GO!" He repeated, and threw him back on the floor. Running a hand past his red-rimmed eyes, Draco ran away from his father. "Everything you love will be hurt, believe me! Love is for the weak." His father's voice echoed down the hall to him. Once in his room, Draco rubbed his eyes a little unsteadily, and with a anguished cry, took out a small pocket knife.  
  
He began to chop off his hair, shiny blond tendrils dropping from his fingers. When he was done, he took some gel, and combed his hair until it was almost stuck to his scalp.  
  
He was imprisoned in a closet for a week because of his insolence.  
  
~*~  
  
"Draco." The boy suddenly raised startled eyes to the girl standing before him. A wave of emotions ran threw his body, and he quickly suppressed them all. His memories were haunting him, and he rubbed his temple slightly. It was just one of the many torturous memories of his childhood. Nobody knew, and nobody would ever know.  
  
"Draco?" He was daydreaming again. Draco mentally slapped himself, and lifted his gaze to the browned haired angel in front of him.  
  
'No.' A voice suddenly said in his brain.  
  
'What?' He asked himself.  
  
'You'll hurt her, like you hurt everything.'  
  
'But I won-' he tried to argue.  
  
'You will, or Lucius will.' Draco suddenly scowled, and looked at Hermione with a renewed expression. Lucius would kill her, he couldn't care for anything, not ever.  
  
Forgive me, Draco asked silently in his head.  
  
He stood up, and looked coldly at her.  
  
"Granger." He said without emotion. "Why are you yapping in my face." He inwardly cringed at her hurt expression. She didn't need any more pain. He mentally tortured himself for saying those words, but continued the ruse. He couldn't back down now.  
  
"I-" Hermione stuttered. She couldn't handle this. Her dad was a deatheater, her mother was God knows where, maybe dead. He was all she had now. She needed him. "Draco..." She whispered, eyes filling up with unshed tears. "Please...I..I need you.."  
  
Draco's resolve crumbled momentarily. He wanted so much to wrap his arms around her, to make her alright. He headed towards her. To hel- with Lucius. He cared about Hermione! He cared so much...  
  
'THEN LEAVE HER BE!!!' The same voice screamed inside his head. 'YOU'll only HURT her MORE!! SHE might DIE!! You DON'T want that, do YOU? Cuz if you show affection, you might DARN WELL be writing a EULOGY for hER!!' Draco's hands dropped to his sides, and he lowered his head desperately. He had to be cruel to be kind. (A/N: lols I couldn't resist) A glance at her face, and he would not be able to ignore her. He could hear her silently crying. His heart was shattering into a thousand pieces, he had never felt so depressed in his life.  
  
"Come on." He said, trying to keep all his emotion from his voice. "I have an Invisibility Cloak. We can check in the Restricted part of the Library for the potion we took." He stole a glance at her. Silent tears were running past her eyes. He quickly averted his eyes from her face.  
  
'You're doing this for her,' the annoying voice in his mind repeated, 'This is all for her.' Draco scowled at his conscience. Sometimes he just wished it would dissapear. Hermione didn't respond. Sighing quietly to himself, he jogged up to his room, and retrieved his Invisibility Cloak. He gently took Hermione's arm in his own, and started to lead her to the library.  
  
It was a miracle they didn't get caught going there. They were making enough noise to even wake a Weasley from their slumber. Draco frequently cast glances at Hermione, and just as quickly looked guiltily away.  
  
When they finally had arrived in between the forbidding rows of restricted books, Draco got to working. He slowly led Hermione to a seat, and left her there. It seemed like she was in a state of shock. She still hadn't said a word to him.  
  
After many hours of searching through pitch dark, Draco found what he was looking for. Throughout his search, a strange, eerie silence filled the room. Shaking off the feeling of being watched, Draco dusted off the book, and read the title with relish. '101 DARK POTIONS' by Adonis Arcturus.  
  
Suddenly he stopped, and narrowed his eyes around the room, trying to see. He heard a hiss in the corner of the room, and turned his eyes towards a dark shadow there. It was Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. She quickly skirted away, off to warn Filch, no doubt. He growled silently, and tucked the book under one arm.  
  
"Hermione." He said, and lifted her up. Holding one of her arms in his own, he started running. Behind him he could hear Filch's voice.  
  
"What, Mrs. Norris? Two naughty, naughty kids are out to play? Oooh, ooh, I'll catch them now, yes I will." Footsteps were coming closer, and Draco ran faster. They turned a corner, and arrived at a dead end. Draco could hear Filch, his torch was casting a glow on the walls. His eyes roved around the wall, trying to find a way out.  
  
Suddenly Hermione turned around and slapped him, ripping her arm out of his grasp. Draco looked at her in surprise, hurt in his heart, although his eyes did not betray his emotion. Hermione glared at him, squinting her eyes. His eyes widened at her glare.  
  
"I hate you." She said, deathly quiet. "I hate you as much as Voldemort. I hate you, Malfoy, and I always will." With that, she turned on her heel, and ran away from him, leaving the Invisibility Cloak. Draco saw her run off into the torchlight, but Filch probably didn't see her, because he didn't hear the greasy man squawk in triumph. Filch was getting closer, but Draco didn't care.  
  
Hermione had just ripped his heart out (metaphorically) and he slid to the ground in hopelessness. She hated him. She hated him. His mind kept repeating. But I was only trying to help! He told himself. Suddenly he knew she was right. He saw her point too. He hated himself. How he despised himself. He wasn't worth anything. He was always going to be a Malfoy. Servile, cold...unloved.  
  
With tears starting in his eyes, he started banging his head on the slick stone walls of Hogwarts, hands clenched at his sides, nails digging into his flesh.  
  
~*~  
  
Peeves watched sadly for a moment, and for once, did not do anything malicious. Instead, he shooed away Filch, making some noise here and there along the hallways, away from the Slytherin boy. His eyes were understanding, and filled with sadness.  
  
For the last time, he checked on the boy.  
  
Draco had his head in his hands, and was curled up in the corner, shoulders shaking with grief.  
  
~*~  
  
aw man, draco's sad!! *sniffles*  
  
I hope you like this chappie, don't forget to review!!! Must do hmwk and stop PROCRASTINATING!! I have a ss oral tmrw...yeargh.  
  
*me so hungy.*  
  
newayz, REVIEW!!!!!! 


	15. CRAZINESS and DEPRESSION! sniffles

A/N: THX FOR READING and REVIEWING, PEOPLE!!! :DDDDDDDD  
  
Kaze no Iisuto: well thx! I'm glad u like mah story!! *smiles and does a little happy dance* Harry Potter fics are COOL!!! :)  
  
Demon Wolf: *hides behind a table* AHH! Draco's even MORe depressed this chappie!! SO SOLLIE!!! He'll get happier, I PWOMISE!! Darn that BWL!! *shakes fist*  
  
Draco Lover: ack!! *stays hidden behind table* erk! Draco's unhappy this chappie, cuz he thinks no one loves him!! Hermione's like...on the verge of a nervous breakdown or something...that's why she's kinda emotional...  
  
Felicity: thx for suggestions, but I think I got it pretty much mapped out...KEEP READING!!! *bwahah!* review plz!!!  
  
helly120: I totally agree Lucius is EVILL and MEAN!! *shakes fist at the guy* keep reading/reviewing puleaze with a cherrrieeee on tooooppp!!!  
  
Erha.END of AN!! :)  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
The moon shone brightly through the windows, and Draco sat on a wooden table, moonlight filtering onto his books. His head was bent towards the miniscule words on the page, and a frown creased his brow. He tucked a loose strands of blond hair back behind his ear, and stopped reading when he heard someone enter the Head Boy/ Girl common room.  
  
It was Hermione. She quietly walked to her room, and ignored Draco completely. He heard her softly shut the door behind her. When he was sure she was gone, he collapsed on his desk in depression.  
  
This had been going on for nights in a row. Draco would try to find a cure for the potion, and Hermione would remain mute. It was for the best, his conscience reminded him, and Draco scowled. For once, he didn't think so. He raised his tired eyes, and rubbed them, restraining a yawn.  
  
"Pervigilo." He muttered, pointing a wand at himself. It seemed like he seemed to be dosing himself with spells all the time nowadays. The spell he just cast was to keep him awake all night. He also cast the Flabilis Aerius charm on himself.  
  
A dull orange glow emitted itself from his wand, and showered around him. Draco shivered slightly, and opened his eyes wider. His tiredness seemed to be enclosed in a small tight capsule inside of him, and shaking his head slightly, he continued to read.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco slapped lightly on the charmed alarm clock when it rang loudly, screaming in his ears. 'Awaken, AWAKEN!!' The boy squinted his eyes at the clock.  
  
4:30 AM.  
  
Great. He still had a few hours until the sun rose. By now he had figured out that the potion was based on the setting and rising of the sun. He was himself at night, and in the day he was...somebody else. Sighing lightly, he continued to read the text.  
  
His thoughts wandered, as he reached the 'D' section of the potions catalog. Hermione had been his everything, and now she was gone. He was worthless. Nobody in the whole world loved him, he thought, depressed beyond reason. Life sucks. He thought hopelessly, and stuffed his hand in his pockets.  
  
He withdrew it in surprise, as his skin touched cold metal. He pulled out his old pocketknife. For some reason he kept this with him always. It was strangely scary, as the blade caught the light and reflected it around the room.  
  
As if mesmerized, he slowly rolled up his sleeve. Yes, he knew it was stupid, he knew he'd probably regret it, but he just didn't care anymore. With one brief swipe, the back of his arm was bleeding from a knife slash. He felt strangely satisfied, like he had accomplished something, and watched the blood run down his arm.  
  
That was for hurting Hermione, he thought to himself. He ran the knife across the back of his hand.  
  
That was for listening to Lucius for all his life. Pain blossomed around his arm, and he watched the cuts slowly turn red. He knew a spell to heal them of course, but he decided to leave them.  
  
Rolling his sleeve up, he stuffed the pocket knife back into his pants, and decided to go to sleep. He put a bookmark on his page, and checked the name of the potion he would read the next day.  
  
The Diudominus Potion, it read. Yawning, Draco walked to the couch, too tired to travel up the stairs to his room. He sleepily took off his shirt, and in a half daze, threw himself onto the sofa. He fell asleep quickly, not even bothering to pull any blankets on top of himself. The room was deathly still, as the small shadow of a rat skittered across the window ledge.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione yawned, and stopped when she saw the slumped form of Malfoy. She regretted saying she hated him, even though he had hurt her some much. Right now he didn't look like a cold-blooded Malfoy; right now he just looked like a sad boy. Suddenly Hermione withdrew her breath in a sharp gasp.  
  
Blood was dripping from his arm.  
  
She started running towards him, but stopped when she saw him groan, and stand up slowly. Hermione averted her eyes when he took off his shirt, and saw him collapse onto the common room couch.  
  
She felt lonely without his company, and she hadn't been researching on the potion. All the nights she had been moping about her room, and thinking about...him...Before she knew what she was doing, Hermione was making her way toward the sleeping form of Draco, and knelt down on the carpet to be eye-level with him.  
  
She ran a finger down his cheek, and just stared at his face for a moment. His eyelashes fluttered slightly, and his mouth was slightly open to breathe in air. Hermione smiled. He was adorable.  
  
Pulling a few blankets onto Draco, she smiled at the blonde, and tucked the blankets around his chin. She didn't want him to be hurt anymore, and smiled once more at his innocent face before heading to her room.  
  
~*~  
  
Proffesor Arctur, the new DADA teacher, was a medium-sized man with rungs of reddish brown hair tied in a ponytail behind his head. His eyes were dark green, and he always wore dark black robes to teach his class. Everybody liked him immediately. He had the personality of a friend, and was an excellent teacher.  
  
Hermione smiled viciously at him, and cast a side-long conspiratorial glance at Draco. Draco nodded back at her. The Gryffindors and Slytherins were again having a shared class. It was time to cause some havoc.  
  
"Harry, Harry," Hermione whispered, tapping her dark-haired friend on the shoulder.  
  
"What?" He asked over his shoulder.  
  
"Proffesor Arctur, Potter isn't listening to your lesson!" Draco called from the back of the class. Proffesor Arctur glanced at Harry, and smiled.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Mister Potter." He said congenially. Harry smiled back.  
  
*cough* "Teacher's Pet." *cough* Draco continued lazily, so that only the BWL could hear him.  
  
"No I AM NOT, you ugly GIT MALFOY!" Harry suddenly exploded, and the wholes class looked at him silently for a stunned moment. Harry blushed, and sat back down. He muttered something about being stressed for Quidditch. Proffesor Arctur sighed.  
  
"Mister Potter, I'm afraid I must take off five points for you exclamation in class. If you want to talk to Malfoy again, go get a room, ok?" The class laughed at Harry Potter (A/N: hehe.happy now demon wolf?), since Draco was feared because of his Malfoy name.  
  
"Don't worry about Malfoy," Ron tried to comfort Harry.  
  
"You can't get the youngest one...Ginny, right? so you've moved on to the weasel?" Draco said through the corner of his mouth as Professor Arctur turned his back. "That's low, Potter, even for you." Ron's ears turned red in anger. (A/N: ok, for my fic, both Harry and Ron are straight, just to fill out my plot.lols)  
  
This time both he and Harry lunged at Draco Malfoy.  
  
"YOU LEAVE GINNY OUTTA THIS!!" they both shouted at the same time, and started to claw at Malfoy. Malfoy deflected their blows easily, but didn't fight back. The whole class laughed again at Ron and Harry.  
  
"That's ENOUGH!" Professor Arctur shouted, and split the fighting boys apart. "Harry, Ron, 10 points off Gryffindor for each of YOU!" Half of the classroom went deathly silent (the griffindor half). For the rest of the class, all the Gryffindors were trying to make Proffesor Arctur subtract points from the opposite House, and DADA ended in havoc. Harry swore he had never heard so many ways of saying 'ugly git' before.  
  
Hermione and Draco caught eachother's gaze, and started laughing maliciously, their cackles drowned out in the angry ruckus erupting around them.  
  
~*~  
  
That's it for now, YOU WILL (I pWoMiSe) find out WHAT the diudominus potion is...in the NEXT chappie!!!!  
  
Yeayay!!!  
  
REVIEW APLENTY!!!!  
  
-dkc 


	16. the cOnSeQuEnCeS of the diudominus!

A/N: hIYA PEEPS!!! Dkc AGAIN!! Wooh!! YOU CAN NEVA make me stop TALKING!! Merha!!! My friend's surprise party was the BEST!! *except it wasn't that much of a surprise, since she WAS EARLY!!! *shakes fist* heehee .lols..she's 14 TOO!! Yeah, and we BLEW up LOADS of balloons, and I was ALL hyper on sugar high, and everybody popped the balloons on the ceiling!! Heehee..  
  
(u probably want me to get on with the story, but TOO bad!! Heehee)  
  
and then what happened (in da party) was that we started singing karaoke on mah machine, and then the mic's didn't work, but we still had LOADS of fun!!! *cuz we were basically VERY HUNGRY, and if HUNGRY ppl AREN't GRUMPY, they're HYPER!!!* and then..er...we had PIZZA from PIZZA hut!!! *I think.or Dominoes pizza!* and then they had to LEAVE!!! @ SIX thirty!! Cuz they all had *stuff* to do!! Ahhgghh!  
  
And then (heehee...must..ramble..) and then..um...we made a name for our BAND that we wanna start *but probably won't, ya know?* kake2!!! That's the name!! Pronounced khaki squared, and then EVERybody WENT home! Then I had to pick up saliva-y bits of balloon from the ground...ewwww...  
  
Oh and on MONday, we're gonna give her this HUGE balloon, and make EVERYone SIGN it!! heehee..  
  
OK!! Now I'm gonna start by answering REVIEWS!!!!  
  
Sakura Naoko: yep, ur site is cool!! Sakura and Syaoran 4eva!! Heehee.yaya!!! Thx for reviewing, and dun 4get to review MORE!!1 :D  
  
Sanaria: yep yep, gettin' purretty interesting...lols.thx for reviewing!!! REVIEW MORE LOLs.  
  
Draco Lover: *sniffles again* yeah, draco's in a sad mood, but dun worry, he's gonna figure things out!!! :) thx for reviewing, (as always) heehee!!! :DDD -- Presenting...*drum roll* dkc's CLAZY hyper SMILE!!!  
  
helly120: don't WORRY, in a few chappies, Draco's gonna figure everything out, and he'll be HAPPY for a while!! :)  
  
Natalie Garner: Of course I'll e-mail yeh!! And thx FOR REVIEWING!!! :))))  
  
WOWW!!! *looks around in surprise 4 a while* GUESS what??? MY AN is OVER!!! *pretend I'm saying it like the voice person says it in Iron Chef episodes.. 'da CRAB battle is OVER!'*  
  
Heehee.guess I'm still HYPER on SUGAR!!! WHOO, would ya believe the above ramblings took up a PAGE??? *12 font, Times New Roman* HEEHEE, FINally NOW the AN is OVER!!!  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Draco collapsed on his chair, and muttered a few choice spells on himself. He put his head in one hand, and stared hard at his other for a moment. The blood had dried and had formed into scabs. He sighed softly, and rolled down his sleeve. Hermione wasn't in their common room yet, so he still couldn't speak. (ya know, the password door thingy?)  
  
Hermione hates me. The phrase kept repeating itself over and over inside his head, and he clenched his teeth in anger. It was all his fault she was angry at him, nut he couldn't CARE for her! All he had ever LOVED had been DESTROYED! By Lucius or himself, it didn't even matter anymore.  
  
Wait. One second. Rewind.  
  
Had he said he loved her? Not directly, indirectly, but still had he? He lowered his head into his arms. His thoughts were boiling around in his head. Had he meant it? Did He loved her. He loved her.  
  
Draco Malfoy, the most cold blooded boy in Hogwarts, loved Hermione. He laughed bitterly of the thought of telling anyone that. Everybody thought he was heartless, they'd just think he was using her to get at Potter, or something. Nobody would believe him anyways. SHE wouldn't believe him.  
  
His hands turned into fists and he hit the table. Darn the Malfoys! Darn all of their Malfoy ways! This was the girl he loved, this was the girl he cared about. And he would never be able to tell her. She would never know. All because of a last name. All because of Voldemort!  
  
It was better that way, better she never got mixed up with his kind, that she never knew. Better she stayed the way she was. He raised his head, to stare out the window, watching the pale moonlight calm him slowly. Draco rubbed his eyes, and glared at the potions book. Time to read. Again.  
  
Not like he would find anything, really.  
  
He placed the small pocket knife on the table beside him, and fiddled with it while he read.  
  
~*~  
  
The Diudominus potion.  
  
This potion is an ancient one, and very dark, only used in the most dire of situations. This separates the victim's soul/ conscience, or otherwise spirits, from their being. The seperation happens simultaneously with the cycles of the sun. The potion can only be cast on TWO victims at a time, for unknown reasons.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco frowned slightly, and read faster. Everything sounded so familiar. He dropped the knife on the table with a dull bang.  
  
~*~  
  
During the day, the victim does not have any control over their body. Their spirits are trapped within the recesses of their mind, and another soul takes their place. This was used by dark wizards in Medieval times to control unknowing victims into doing their bidding. Other spells do not work on these zombie victims, but instead, at night, when the curse is lifted, the victim, who now has their spirit again, is affected by the spells cast on them during the day.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco nibbled elegantly on one finger while he read. If this was the potion, that would explain why when he fought with Potter in Diagon Alley his spells didn't work on him. Draco's eyes widened. When the sun set, he was spitting out slugs, and that was one of the curses Potter hexed him with!  
  
~*~  
  
The consequences to this potion are great, however. Any body cannot live without their soul for a long time, and their bodies will slowly die off. There is also a great risk to the ones who control these victim zombies in the daytime. They must be very powerful, or their bodies will die also. Each day the spell is cast, the victim's body will be one way or the other injured from the spell. An example is a cut, or a bruise, until it is all over their bodies.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco clenched his teeth. His shoulder HAD been aching a lot.  
  
~*~  
  
There is only ONE known cure for the potion. This is if one of the Two victims underneath the same spell dies. Once one dies, the other will be free of this soul separation. Another curious twist to this potion, that is deadly efficient is that the victims cannot talk to anybody BUT the other victim while they are under the spell. This prevents any other person to help them out.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco's eyes narrowed, and he walked out onto the porch.  
  
One victim had to die, didn't they? He felt the wind blow his hair around his face, and he stepped closer to the rail until he was just touching it.  
  
Nobody would even notice he was gone anyway. Potter would probably be happy. No more Malfoy to deal with. He could picture the celebrating with Hermione leading the festivities. He smiled bitterly, and stepped on top of the rail, standing precariously with the wind buffeting his body.  
  
Childhood dance lessons kept the boy from toppling over the parapet, and slowly looked over the edge. The ground was far away, dark in the evening air. Farther away he say the pong where the giant squid was lazily swimming about.  
  
He was strangely peaceful, and he knew what he had to do. It was all for Hermione. How he wished he could only hold her one more time. He sighed sadly, and looked again onto the Hogwarts grounds.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he tipped himself off the rail.  
  
"Goodbye, Hermione." He said underneath his breath, and he closed his eyes.  
  
~*~  
  
"Flabilis Aerius," Hermione said to herself, and continued walking down the deserted hallways of Hogwarts. She couldn't seem to talk to Dumbledore about the potion. She had just met him a while back, and all she seemed to be able to talk about was how Malfoy cheesed her off.  
  
Which he didn't.  
  
She shook her head, and made her way to the common room she shared with Draco. She frowned to herself. When did she start calling him Draco, and not Malfoy?  
  
"Ugh." Hermione sighed, and massaged her head with a hand, trying to keep her confusing thoughts at bay. She really didn't need any of this right now. She had to study for NEWTS, and deal with everything else? She wasn't superman, you know. She was just an ordinary girl.  
  
In one hand she was holding two lockets. Why had they arrived? They were addressed to both her and Malfoy. Could they be from the deatheaters? Voldemort? For some reason, she didn't think so. There her thoughts were again, running away from her, she gave up trying to control them, and just let herself muse.  
  
She thought the person who sent the lockets were trying to help. But should she trust her judgement? She had been right about Sirius giving Harry the broom in third year, but he had been on their side. Hermione really had no clue.  
  
Too bad she couldn't talk to anybody about it. Maybe...Draco?  
  
She hurried to put a hand on the door. She muttered something which made her eyes widen, and she hesitated in stepping through the door. She just wouldn't tell him what she had said.  
  
That's right. She just wouldn't tell him! She'd tell Dobby, or maybe Winky, and they'd keep the secret for her. Yeah, that'd be it. Hermione looked at an open book on the common room table, and read a page about the Diudominus potion. Her eyes widened and a sense of doom engulfed her.  
  
Where was Draco? Oh God, please tell her he was safe, he wouldn't do that to himself, would he? An image of him cutting himself flew to her mind, and Hermione ran up into Draco's room.  
  
She stepped into his room, and looked out the porch, as a gust of wind blew in from the open balcony door. A scream rose in her throat as she saw Draco launch himself over the edge of the rail.  
  
Without even thinking about it, she ran off onto the porch, and dived down after him.  
  
~*~  
  
HEEHEE!!! That's the END of this CHAPPIE!!! YAY!!! REVIEW!!!! I SHALL put up the NEXT chappie FASTA!!! *laughs evilly*  
  
Well, at least Draco and Hermione found out about the Diudominus, right? Right?? *nudges Draco Lover* HEHAHAHEH *muahaha* REVIEW!!!!  
  
-dkc  
  
PS. I LUUUUV cliffies!  
  
PPS. *hides behind some couches* 


	17. nighttime flares,,,DUM DUM DUM!

AN: HEEHEE!!! HOW did u guys like the chappie BEFORE this?? HUH?? Didja LIKE it???!!! *laughs evilly with Draco Lover*  
  
LCA: YAYYYYY!!! YOU LIKE MAH STORY!!! *does a happy little dance, and scowls at ppl who think the dance looks weird* heehee...thx for reviewing, plz rnr AGAIN!!! :DDDD  
  
ecco815: booyah! So the crazy cliffie was GOOOd?? Eh? Eh? *nudges ecco815 in the ribs* Eh??? lols  
  
razzleandazzled: cool name!! ONLY one 'd'! glad u like!! Yay!!! *grins, and pushes computer in front of you* I updated quickly!! I'm so proud!! Review PLX!! Thx a BUNCh!  
  
Natalie Garner: *continues doing crazy dance, that only reviewers (who are always the coolest) will understand* whoo hooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! You like ze story? YAY!!! Thx 4 reviewing!!!! :DDDDDDDD  
  
Draco Lover: HIYA BUDDY!! Hehee...lols...I should really go eat something before I burst from hungriness/crazy hyperness, but ah well, eh? *muahaha* *does some modifications to dance, and starts dancing (in what I think) is an evil dance* REVIEW beaucoup, like yah always do!! THX!!!!! :DDDDDDD  
  
Alright, so I'm gonna start on the next chappie now!!!  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Draco's will to live kicked in as he felt himself toppling over the ledge. He grappled to get a hold on the balcony floor, but it slid off his hands. He scraped the skin off his hand, and continued toppling down, lower and lower. The wind blew in his face, and he watched the porch become smaller and smaller.  
  
There was no hope for him. Draco wasn't even scared anymore. So this is what it feels like to die, he thought calmly. It wasn't too scary, he just felt empty, lonely. Hermione would be free, he thought dully. He looked up to the porch again, and his eyes snapped open as he saw a figure jump out from the balcony. That wasn't...  
  
Hermione. But it was.  
  
He saw her hurtling towards him, tears shining in her eyes. His eyes started tearing up. It wasn't supposed to end like this. Hermione was supposed to live. Hermione was supposed to survive.  
  
IT seemed like an eternity while they were both falling, before they reached each other. Draco felt like he died every time he saw a tear fall from Hermione's eyes. He didn't want her hurt. He had never wanted her to be hurt. He saw her bring her arms to her side, so she could travel faster to meet Draco in a headlong embrace.  
  
Hermione mouthed the boy's name, before she crashed her body into his own. Draco was still shell shocked, and could only stare in her warm brown eyes. Suddenly a fiery pain raced through his body, and both he and Hermione were encased with a bright beam of moonlight.  
  
The pendants in Hermione's hands began to glow and pulsate, faster and faster.  
  
Both of the teenagers arched their backs, and wings sprouted from their shoulders. Draco's eyes widened in surprise, and he saw Hermione's follow suit. For some reason, this felt strangely..right...like he had never been complete without wings. He saw black feathers float in the air around him.  
  
So his wings were black. Typical.  
  
Hermione's wings on the other hand, were blinding white, almost to the point that Draco wanted to cover his eyes. Arm in arm, both of them drifted to the ground, flaring their wings out behind them.  
  
Hermione still had tears in her eyes, and touched Draco's face to make sure he was still there. That he was alive, and standing before her. Draco's thoughts broiled. Did she still care for him? He usually could read people, but with Hermione...he just wasn't sure.  
  
They landed softly on the dark green blades of grass growing in the Hogwarts gardens, and Draco couldn't help but smile at Hermione. He thought he'd never see her again. Her face shone in the moonlit glow, and he just wanted to take her in his arms, and never let go.  
  
That, of course, was impossible.  
  
Hermione slapped him, and they both could only gesticulate silently at each other, eyes flaring. Suddenly they burst out what they had said to the door, simultaneously, and both did not hear what the other had to say. Hermione blushed at her confession, and tried to continue her glare. But that in itself was a particularly hard endeavor.  
  
"What was that?" Draco asked sincerely, tilting her chin up to look at his eyes. He didn't seem angry at all, he was more...amused. His gray eyes sparkled with warmth, in their dusky depths, and Hermione felt her breath coming faster.  
  
"I-" she started. "Nothing, Draco. Just nothing." She wasn't ready to confess, she wasn't even sure. Her heart and her mind conflicted each other, being opposites just to make her life that much harder. Draco smirked at her insecurity. He didn't mind her slapping him, really. Just to be in her presence was good enough for him. She never had to know anything.  
  
"What did you say?" Hermione's voice brought Draco back to reality, and he looked at her oddly for a moment, eyes sparkling with some hidden emotion that made them glint in the moonlight. Draco ignored her comment.  
  
"Nice wings, Granger." He said instead. The boy looked behind Hermione at her retracted wings.  
  
"Nice ones yourself...Malfoy." Hermione answered, reminding herself at the last moment to use his last name instead. Draco suddenly sighed, and sat down onto the cold grass, then he jumped up again.  
  
"Whoa, what's with all the dew?" Hermione sniggered at Draco for no apparent reason, and Draco glared at her with a smile gently gracing his lips. "You'd like to tell me what you find so hilarious, Granger?" Hermione chuckled some more, and pointed at him.  
  
"You're clothes.." She said, gasping for air in between her hearty guffaws, "You're clothes are gone. You're wearing a loin cloth!" Draco stuttered a bit when he found out she was right. His chest was bare other that a casual fur cape draped over one of his shoulders, and clasped at his weight.  
  
And he was only wearing a loincloth. That was brown leather.  
  
(A/N: OOOoooooooohhhhh..lols)  
  
He cheeks reddened slightly, but he knew she wouldn't be able to see in the semi-darkness of the night. To cover up his embarrassment, he tried to act like it was normal for him, that he always wore loincloths in the presence of-anybody, to be exact.  
  
"Really, Granger, you thought I never wore one before? And Malfoys are sexy in whatever they wear." Ugh. That went over the line a little bit, but he put his hands on his hips, and stared at her triumphantly. He knew it totally made no sense, but he pretended it did.  
  
Suddenly he noticed her lack of modern clothing as well. As least I'm not the one who has to embarrass themselves. He got a wicked idea, and decided not to tell her. She looked prettier with these clothes on anyway.  
  
Aren't you dying to know what Hermione wore? Then I'll tell you, ye or ne. She wore a long dark blue skirt that was slit up immodestly high, and the material seemed to be of silk, or some other cloth that swished around her ankles. Her top was short, very un-Hermione like, and showed just a millimeter of her stomach. Her shirt looked like a crinkled white blouse, ending at the shoulders and tied with two pink ribbons.  
  
Hermione put her hands on her hips, and Draco suddenly walked away, without waiting for her to answer. Hermione grumbled to himself. At one second he was being a total git, and the next he could just ignore everything and engulf himself in sadness. Not having any other option, she decided to follow him.  
  
His bare back shone in the moonlight, and his legs were lithe and long. Draco's dark black wings were not a symbol of malevolence, just looking overall good on him. Hermione shook her head to clear the thoughts that were entering it at full speed. Hormones, she scowled. She gave no thought to her door password thing, and finally came up with the idea that Dumbledore, as nice as he was, was playing with their minds.  
  
Suddenly Hermione bumped into a solid wall of flesh, and fell backwards. Before she hit the ground, she felt two strong arms hold onto her waist. When she opened her eyes, she was staring full in the face of Draco Malfoy. His breath tickled her nose, he was so close. Just as quickly, Draco let go of her, and she fell onto the ground in an unceremonious heap.  
  
Draco was taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself. His hands were clenched to his sides. He started waving them around his sides in the cool night hair.  
  
"So." His breath made a tiny puff of smoke, which quickly disappeared. Hermione looked up at him, standing up to dust her clothes off. Draco stopped flinging his arms around, and turned his gaze to her face. "You know all about the spell, right?" His voice was quiet and reserved, and Hermione strained her ears to hear it.  
  
"Yeah." Hermione admitted guiltily. Draco snarled, and turned to look at the full moon shining about the Hogwarts grounds. That means she knew why he...why he...almost killed himself. He started walking again, deeper into the gardens. Hermione rolled her eyes, and started to follow him. She found his sitting on a bench, wings retracted, and taking especial care in his skimpy clothes.  
  
She sat down beside him, and stared at him insecurely, not knowing what to do, or how to act. Hermione didn't want him to clam up again. He was the only one she could talk to, she explained to herself, stopping her mind from thinking about it.  
  
"I love the night." The statement was so quiet, that Hermione wasn't even sure if it was said. She kept silent however, just trying to be a listening shoulder. (an; ya know, kinda like a shoulder to cry on) Malfoy took a deep breath, but didn't look at her. He clenched his teeth. "I thought that...the moon the only one why understood...that it would never betray me." Hermione was surprised to see that Malfoy's hands were balled up into fists, and that his knuckles were white from the force. "It was alone...like me. Singled out from the stars."  
  
He was silent for a while, just clenching his fists until Hermione knew they hurt like crazy. He suddenly took a deep breath, tilting his head to see her face.  
  
"So we should probably research this." He indicated the wings, the clothes, in all one grand gesture.  
  
"I suppose...why not tell our..." Hermione's voice trailed off, as she realized Draco's reasoning. Their father couldn't be trusted...and who knew if their mothers could be? The teachers were the same story. And Dumbledore...well...who knew if he wasn't under a spell too? Anyways, they couldn't tell anybody if they wanted to. Hermione suddenly remembered the peculiar twist to the spell.  
  
The only one who could help her was Draco.  
  
She suddenly remembered the pendants, which, in her inattention, she had thrown over her neck. Taking them off quickly, she showed them to Draco.  
  
"What do you think?" She asked when she finished explaining. Draco chewed slightly on one fingernail, and without even thinking about it, Hermione pulled it out of his mouth. His eyes narrowed in thought.  
  
"It's safe." He conceded reluctantly. "You were wearing it all the time, anyways." Hermione nodded, and gave on to him. Draco slipped it over his head, and suddenly the pendant shone green.  
  
"Er..." He tried to take it off, but couldn't seem to. After a lot of struggling, and until his neck was chafed with burns, his arms fell to his sides in defeat. Hermione's wasn't coming off again, either. "Oh well..." he sighed. They both avoided the subject of the Diudominus, as they knew how they could stop it...  
  
"Come on, it's getting chilly out here. I'll bring you back inside." Taking the lead again, he started walking back towards Hermione's and his balcony doors, which still shone with artificial light. (an; or, in my words, manlights!)  
  
Hermione couldn't help but look at him again while they walked. The Diudominus potion...plagued her mind with unanswered questions and unsettling thoughts. She contemplated it while they walked, and looked at the boy in front of her. Did she care enough about him to make that sacrifice? The answer burned in her mind.  
  
Yes, she did.  
  
And he tried to make the same sacrifice for her.  
  
Then realization hit her. Draco Malfoy had been trying to save her. The one boy who had made her life miserable for the last six years and called her derogatory names, had willingly sacrificed himself for her. Her cheeks reddened. So he cared for her now...right?  
  
But she wouldn't let him do it again. They'd just have to find another way to conquer the Diudominus. There had to be another way. One thing extended time with the BWL had taught her, was that there were always loopholes. Always.  
  
Hermione suddenly noticed that Draco was no longer on the ground, and saw him fly up towards her balcony. She flew up after him, loving the feel of the wind beneath her wings. She felt like she had been born knowing how to fly, and unlike on brooms, the height didn't scare her.  
  
She landed lightly on the porch, and looked at Draco who had been waiting for her. She voiced the thoughts that had been bothering her.  
  
"Don't...do anything crazy...alright? We'll...we'll just find another way to conquer the diudominus. Agreed?" Draco looked at her for a second, just trying to make out why she was saying this. Didn't she want him gone? She looked like an angel, with her white wings billowing behind her. He could do nothing but agree, surprising himself.  
  
Draco turned to take off.  
  
"Oh, and Draco?" He looked at her questioningly, tilting his head to one side. "I'll be your friend." She suppressed the emotions that were building up inside her, and with a muttered 'Alohomora' she unlocked her door.  
  
Suddenly she heard a quiet tap on the glass behind her, and walked out. She was instantly pressed to the glass, and felt warm lips on hers. Instinctively she knew it was Draco, and fireworks exploded in her head, and she could think of nothing to the blonde boy with his arms around her waist. His lips were so soft...and he tasted like strawberries. (an: don't you love strawberries?)  
  
She felt herself put her arms around his neck, and kissed him back, feeling her problems drain away. Hermione had never felt so secure before. She just wanted this feeling to continue forever. Suddenly Draco pulled away, and a hidden fear flickered across his eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry." He muttered incoherently, and flew off the balcony like his life depended on it. Hermione stared after him.  
  
Confused as ever.  
  
~*~  
  
an; welp, that's ALL of it..which is a lot for ME, but I dunno for you. ANYWAYS, REVIEW while I go EAT AND WATCH TV at the same time!!!!  
  
MUCHOS GRACIAS, ALL MAH REVIEWERS!!!!  
  
-dkc 


	18. OHMI, OHMY! what's Snape gotten himself ...

A/N: SOORRRRY I HAVEN"T UPDATED IN A WHILE!!! AHHH!!!  
  
Mah crazy teachers have been loading on the hmwk right before winter vacation even tho we ALREADY got our report cards!!! NOOOOoooooo!!!!!!! Anyways, now, back to mah USUAL clazy rants!!!!!  
  
Since you guys know me so well, and you KNOW I'm usually ALWAYS hyper.*go hyperness!!!* *Does the dkc dance for moment* I'm gonna tell you about a CLAZY dream I had, so CLAZY!!!  
  
Er...see, what happened was that I was like tarzan/supergirl!!/spidergirl!!! And then I had to save the world from evil buffalo, and the evil witch who controlled them...er...yeah...and then...OH and then my mom gave me a strainer (you know the ones for pasta?) to combat the evil buffalo and witches...and then she said sumthin like  
  
'everyone in our family KNOWS how to USE the sacred STRAINER' like stuart little, and how all the littles find the Little house and then-  
  
Actually that's pretty much it...I woke up...and I decided to tell MAH WONDERFUL READERS WHO REVIEW ALWAYS!! *nudges a few ppl who read but don't review* eh? Eh???? YUP, so review!!!  
  
Chrissy: WONDAFUL!!! I'm SOOOO happy u like mah story!!!!!! :DDD Review MOOOORRREEE when ya GOTS the time!!!!! YayayaaaaaYY!!!!  
  
StarpearL: THX for reviewing!!! :DD anyways, I dunno what I'll do about Draco, I'll see how it goes, and KAZAAM, I will HAVE it figured out...REVIEW again!!!! Muaha!!!  
  
Silve: AHHHHHH!! ANOTHER chappie comin' UP!!!!!!!!! DUM DUM DUM!!! What will happen between crazy Draco and CLAZY hermione??? Ahhh! REVIEW PLZ!!!  
  
LCA: *shows off a new revised, and more CLAZY way of DOING mah DANCE 4 reviews* yayy!!! I SEE the many D's and I SAY :DDDDDDDDD!!! Muaha!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! THE HYPER SMILE is INFECTIOUS!!! HHEeeheee...neways, before I freak ya out, THX for reviewing!!!! :DDDDDDDD  
  
Sanaria: hehe.yep yeap, them and their CLAZY, CLAZY, confusing shenanigans, eh?? Heehee..review again!!!!!  
  
Draco Lover: WINGS are SOOO cool...man, I DUN LIKE evil HERMIONE and Draco, but they gotsta stay that way for a bit more!!!! Neways, REVIEW, DL, REVIEW!!!! :DDDD  
  
Anonymous: thx a bunch!!! :DDDD  
  
willowfairy: *firstly, dodges the rotten looking tomatoes in a bucket at willowfairy's feet* Phew! Cool name! I HAVE UPLOADED!!! *smilez* Thanx a bunch, and don't forget to review again! :DDDD  
  
Felicity: Merha.you will find out soon.maybe in the NEXT chappie!!!! *hint: rellwings.* :DDDDD thanx for reviewing, don't forget to review again.I LUV reviews!!!! :DDDDDD  
  
Hermione18: YAAYYYYY!!!!!! UR BACK!!! :DDDDD WOOHOOO!!! Glad u like zeee LOD story!!!!! :DDDDDDDDDD  
  
Maura Plaid: YEAH dude, I'm a continueing!!! THX FOR ze review, don't forget to review again!! Merha!!! :DDDDDDD  
  
ecco815: *rubs bruised rib* ouch, u got one heck of a pointy elbow..Lols...i'm just feelin' crazy and hyper!!! :DDD thx for reviews!!!! LUV 'EM!!!!!!  
  
HAPPY WINTER HOLIDAYS, AND TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT, A FESTIVE TIME OF ENJOYING-CERTAIN-HOLIDAYS-WHICH-WILL-REMAIN-UNNAMED-BECAUSE-WE'RE-BEING- POLITICALLY-CORRECT~!!!!  
  
:DDDDDDDDD  
  
story time!!!!  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Hermione touched a hand to her still tingling lips, and stared out into the distance. She shivered slightly as the cold wind buffeted her brown hair about her shoulders. Sighing softly and shaking her head to herself, Hermione turned around and slowly slid the glass door open and walked inside. The girl suddenly bit her lip savagely, and plonked down onto a large oaken chair by her desk.  
  
Why was this happening to her? She didn't need any of this! Hermione wallowed a while in her self misery, and finally withdrew a shuddering breath. This was all too confusing!  
  
She furrowed her brows as she took her fingers away from her burning lips, and bit her mouth in frustration.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco vigorously paced his room, his black wings billowing behind him. He tried to organize his scattered thoughts, as they broiled around his head. Draco licked his lips slightly, as they continued pulsating with emotion. Pausing momentarily in mid stride, he hesitated slightly. Then he coiled his legs gracefully and sat on the floor. Rubbing one of his shoulders savagely, the boy began to let his thoughts ramble.  
  
What had he done? He had kissed her, that was certain. But what had it meant to her? Was he disgusting or maybe...just maybe...she had enjoyed it? As much as he? Draco suddenly growled to himself. He knew the implications of his actions. He had to stop talking to her, stop even looking in her direction. Draco still had to protect her, from all the Malfoys.  
  
Suddenly he was filled with emotions of stupidity and unfulfillment.  
  
He was terrified at what he had almost done.  
  
Draco had almost killed himself. Now that was stupid. There hadn't been a reason for it anyway...or had there? The boy groaned and rested his chin on his hand, realization hitting him. One thought stood out first and foremost, as he began to remember what he had been thinking. He had done it for her.  
  
For her to be free.  
  
Draco suddenly unfurled his sleeve, and glared at the multiple cuts burning on his arm. He slowly traced the scars with a finger, mesmerized by the lines of flesh. With a anguished groan, he threw himself on the bed. He just had to escape it all. In semi-consciousness, Draco continued to mull over his unorthodox parents. Draco had no doubt in his mind who was controlling him in the morning.  
  
Lucius, of course.  
  
And now he was faced with another challenge, although Draco looked forward eagerly to solve this one.  
  
How was he going to reciprocate Lucius' lack of affection?  
  
Draco smiled, and closed his eyes to a dreamless sleep. His wings slowly disappeared from his back.  
  
The Slytherin portal in his room opened quietly.  
  
~*~  
  
One thought stood out clearly in Hermione's mind. She had to talk to him. There wasn't much time before they both would die from the potion, and she needed his help. She didn't want him to ignore her anymore, she felt different around him, safer. Those short few moments in the dungeon when he had comforted her...he had been so different. That was the boy who was Draco, that was who he had always tried to hide.  
  
She still remembered the warm feel of his arms spreading tingling sensations up and down her spine. And that had been her first kiss. Hermione let herself revel in the outburst of emotions flooding deep within her.  
  
Hermione couldn't deny it any more. Her feelings were imminent. She had confessed at the door, and she was going to do it now. To him, to Draco. With quick gait the determined girl headed toward his room. Every footstep seemed to take a million years, and Hermione disciplined herself to walk calmly past the echoing red-carpeted hallways.  
  
The hall wasn't very long, as both her and Draco's room were on the same floor. Various paintings of stern looking wizards and witches glared at her from between thick wooden frames. Hermione jolted to a stop, and glanced nervously at his door. The torches on the sconces in the walls flickered merrily, and Hermione hesitated slightly.  
  
Her heart quailed slightly as her fist was poised at the doorknob. It was now or never, before he closed up again. Taking a deep breath to calm her shaking nerves, her hands gripped the cold metal knob, and she turned it. The door squeaked on its hinges when it opened.  
  
Suddenly Hermione's mouth dropped open in betrayal. Tears started forming at her eyes, and she angrily blinked them away. Her whole world crashed down on her. How could she have been so stupid? Draco had never cared for her, he showed that now. Her hands balled into fists, and she turned her gaze away.  
  
Draco wasn't alone.  
  
He was locking lips passionately with a girl.  
  
Pansy.  
  
Inevitably, Hermione's eyes were once again drawn to the couple making out. Her eyes started watering, and her lower lip to tremble. Suddenly like a burst dam, tears started pouring from her eyes, and Hermione leaned onto the door frame for support. He couldn't do this to her! She let out an anguished cry, and Pansy dislocated her mouth from Draco's to turn and smile sickeningly at her.  
  
Pansy's pug face had now grown into elegant, womanly features, and her body made men drool over her. Pansy was pressed into Draco, and he against the wall of his room, totally engrossed on the girl in front of him. His fine messy blond hair was now invaded by two of Pansy's slimy elegant hands, and Hermione just wanted to rip those fingers away from her Draco's hair.  
  
The sight of Drac-no, Malfoy, betraying her took a moment to sink in. Her Draco was dead. He had never existed, all a neat plan concocted by the deatheaters to screw with her mind. Probably to get at Potter. Hermione clenched her teeth as these thoughts ran through her mind, the truth in them almost bringing her to tears. He was never an angel, never anything...but Malfoy.  
  
Hermione staggered backwards and out of the room, closing the door behind her. Once outside in the chillier air, her eyes hardened. She saw all through it now, his cheap façade of innocent boy tortured into dark ways. It wasn't true. Nothing about him was. She had been wrong about...him. He would always be a Malfoy, forever.  
  
And Malfoys never love.  
  
The girl turned swiftly in the flickering light, and walked bitterly back to her room, her heart turning cold to the only man she had ever loved.  
  
~*~  
  
Snape doubled over as another blow was delivered to his stomach. He spat out blood from the impact. His hair was disheveled in a wild array above his head, and red blood was pouring from gashes on his arms, legs, face, and nose. His black cloak was damp from blood and sweat and reduced to rags. Snape's head lolled uncomfortably, his chin touching his chest, which was an infected red from whip marks.  
  
Snape stood with his back pressed against the wall, his ankles and wrists manacled tightly against it. His resulting spread-eagled position rendered him vulnerable to all the snake faced man could throw at him. Snape was leaning down heavily on his bindings, and his wrists were already bruised and chafed. He looked unconscious.  
  
In front of him stood Voldemort, who fiddled idly with the sharp metal implements in his hands. To his right stood Wormtail, eyes mad from power, and grin dripping with malice. In Wormtail's glowing artificial hand was a spiked whip, tips glinting red in the sparse light.  
  
"I don't know...what...you're talking...about." Snape gasped quietly, his dark eyes glaring from underneath his mob of unkempt hair. His breath came in haggard gasps, and though his tone no longer held power or authority, it still held the biting lilt of determination.  
  
Voldemort fingered one of the multiple knives in his hands. Without warning, the man suddenly slashed Snape across the chest with it. Snape withdrew a sharp breath, but did not cry out. Another dark welt appeared on his permanently scarred chest. Voldemort frowned at Snape's lack of response, and gripped his face in between two of his fingers. Snape's gaze was rebellious, though tired beyond measure.  
  
Voldemort smirked, the action weaving sinuously from one side of his mouth to the other. His grip tightened around the man's jaw, until there was a distinct crack of bone. Voldemort's fingers loosened, and the expression of glee on his face widened. Snape glared at him, mouth open, his lower jaw slackened. Voldemort snickered, and tapped his own cheek lightly with one hand.  
  
"You know, Snape, I could make this easy for you. Now, just tell me all of Dumbledore's plans." Voldemort glanced at the wall beside him, almost lost in thought. "What is he planning now, that old oaf?" Shaking his head, the red-eyed man turned his gaze back on Snape, as his servant watched on with glee. "Or," here Voldemort paused from dramatic effect, "We could do this the difficult way. You could stay like this," he indicated the dungeons, "Until I find a way to dispose of you." The man grinned again, and punched Snape in the cheek. "I don't believe in the Verisitas Potion, do you? It's so much more fun this way."  
  
Snape growled at him, not daring to give up his secret agent position for the Ministry of Magic.  
  
"Think about it, old boy," Voldemort said by way of parting, patting Snape in his broken jaw. Snape visibly paled from the pain. Wormtail grinned as he watched Voldemort leave the dungeons. Swinging his head around, the sniveling man turned his beady little eyed gaze on Snape.  
  
He raised his whip.  
  
~*~  
  
WHOO!!!! THAT's zee END of this CHAPPIE!!! WHOA!! I had writer's block for SUCH a LOOOONGGG time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEWAYZ, hope you LIKE the CHAPPIE!!!!! U PPL ARE DA BEST!!!! REVIEW PLEEEZ!!!!  
  
:DDDDDDDDDDDD *heehee, LCA, many D's!*  
  
-dkc 


	19. darkness in their dreams,,,,shortened

A/N: SO PLEASE READ THIS, OR YOU MIGHT GET CONFUSED.  
  
Firstly, I just want you all to know that this is a DREAM SEQUENCE, so if it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND.  
  
YOU WILL FIND OUT THE REASON FOR THIS NIGHTMARE NEXT CHAPPIE!!! :DDDDDDD  
  
Okee? :DD  
  
(actually, if u must really know the true story, I was just feeling hyper so then I wrote the first few pages in a CRAZY style of writing, and then I decided to make it into a nightmare...which would make more sense)  
  
NOW ON TO CRAZY RANTS:  
  
Felicity: THX FOR REVIEWING!!! :DDDDD u ROCK!! Ok, onto ze question: ahem...yep, Draco and Hermione are both rellwings...heehee...  
  
willowfairy: happy secular holidays!! HOPE U HAD FUN!!!! Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :DDD yup, many questions will be answered in da next chappie!! Most of this is just a product of...er...TOO much boxing day shopping? *opens mouth* MERHA!! I shall EAT those TOMAHTOES! Heehee.lols  
  
Chrissy: HEEHEE...that is impossible!!! I SHALL BE HYPER 4EVA!!!! (at least, for as long as I am NOT unHYPEr...heehee.) yes! Thx for ze compleeemeenttt!!!!  
  
Draco Lover: heya DL!!!! ERR.don't WORRY!! IT"LL aLL become clear in ze NEXT chappie...I have MANY embarrassing things PLANNED for my FAVORITE hero, DRACO!!!! Heeheee :DDDDDD  
  
Goosefeathers: heehee.yah, I wuz thinking da same thing, wonderin' if what draco was thinking was sane...and no, even if he may SEEM like it most of the time, DRACO (yum) is 100% not schizophrenic, but 100% min-er...I mean...er...NOT mine...hehe lols  
  
Natalie Garner: ben affleck...yum...hehe lols...well, draco and hermione's wings are huge...if u ever watched escaflowne, they're like van's wings...IF NOT, just picture Ben Affleck to your delight!! *he was in 'Voyage of da Mimi', roight? * THX for reviewing!!!!!  
  
Hermione18: YAYYY!!!!! U ARE ZE BEST!!! EcStatic that you like the story!!! Pansy is evilll!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Hehee.I shall NEVA cease being hyper!! HYPER!!!!!! :DDDDD  
  
LCA: *drumroll...* presenting...  
  
:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!! Heeheee!!! YAY!!!! Well, this chappier one whole LOT more confusing that ANY of ze other chappies, due to my RESIDENT HYPERNESS!!! :DDDD anyways, thanx for reviewing!!!  
  
HAPPY NEW YEAR, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  
  
Or in this case, HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE EVE!!!!!!  
  
ZE ZAGA CONTINUOOOESSS..  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
"Hey, there she is!" Harry elbowed Ron in the gut to get his attention. Ron and Harry looked concerned for a moment, until Harry remembered what he had been talking about in the first place.  
  
"No, Ron, HerMiOnE is there!" This time it was Ginny who suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, until her face was slightly red. Harry looked slightly miffed that he was somehow the butt of the joke, but shrugged, and decided to stuff his mouth with some delicious looking pancake that had been steaming on his plate.  
  
"OH! I see her now! Bloody hell, she looks terrible!" Seamus (since I haven't mentioned him yet in the story) decided to do something worth writing about and rolled his eyes at Ron's unfailing ability to state the extremely obvious.  
  
Now the whole table was standing up and attracting attention, trying to catch a glimpse of their sick-looking resident brainiac who got them house points, which Harry would promptly (and right on schedule) lose. There was a chorus of comments from the Gryffindors while the Ravenclaws rolled their eyes knowledgeably, the Hufflepuffs tripped over Trevor (Neville's toad, not the clumsy, clumsy Hufflepuff) and the Slytherins didn't do anything particularly nasty because Draco wasn't there to order them around.  
  
Hermione DID look unwell, and she was clumsily slurring her way down the Great Hall, not looking very Hermione-like.  
  
THUS BEGAN ANOTHER DAY IN WHICH GRYFFINDORS WOKE UP IN A SLEEPY DAZE AND MADE FOOLS OF THEMSELVES TO EVERYONE ELSE CUZ THEY ARE JUST...SO...BRAVE  
  
~*~  
  
Chaos ensued until Dumbledore stood up and tapped his glass. Then everybody stopped talking, walking, stalking, squawking, mocking, balking, docking, and dancing around.  
  
"YES???" They chorused as a group.  
  
"Well, before we parTAY, I have a special message for HERMIONE and DRACO. HERMIONE and DRACO. HERMIONE and DRACO. HERMIO-"  
  
"Alright!! WE get the point!" Snape put a finger on the side of his nose. Suddenly Snape disappeared, and the other Hogwartians around him faded until everything seemed to be underwater, except Dumbledore.  
  
The old wizard turned his lopsided gaze onto Hermione and Draco. Almost as if a light had been blown out his eyes went flat and stopped twinkling merrily.  
  
"I have a message for you, Hermione and Draco. Snape disappeared. He is gone. Taken by Voldemort." Suddenly Dumbledore's gaze flittered around the room in consternation. "I don't have much time...the lockets are the key...seek help where you least expect it...you've been drugged, Draco...forgive...rellwin-  
  
The scene blacked out, until Draco and Hermione were standing a void. A horrible snickering was heard enveloping the whole room. Fear was prominent in the dark black air.  
  
"Ten minutes, my kiddies." A voice growled, echoing around the silent abyss. "Ten minutes before the beautiful sun comes out." A chill ran up Hermione's spine, and she unconsciously moved back to back with Draco. There was evil here. Powerful, dark, evil. The darkness around them started to take on a form, until it was darker than it's background. Red eyes stared eerily at them, and Hermione and Draco were frozen to the spot.  
  
The newly formed shadow suddenly dove at the two of them, too quick to avoid, and Hermione and Draco screamed in pain as the darkness suffused them both. They watched in silent horror as their bodies started...darkening.  
  
They were slowly disappearing, melting into the black abyss around them...  
  
"You will NOT destroy my plans, you two," the leering voice continued, now from the shadow. It had no mouth, but it's red eyes were animalistic, insane with a wild rage. There was nothing they could do. Hermione closed her eyes as the darkness encroached on her legs until they were gone. Draco watched at the darkness suffused his limbs, clenching his teeth as pain racked his body. Eyesight blurring, they both doubled over.  
  
They were dying, they both knew that much.  
  
The breath was slowly getting squeezed out of their lungs, and the air around them became suffocatingly hot, nauseating. Draco and Hermione closed their eyes, accepting their fate. It was too hard to keep on fighting, so much more easier to surrender to this darkness, this calm, encroaching black void...  
  
"No." Hermione and Draco's eyes shot open as they heard the defiant voice. Both their pendants were glowing brightly, incandescently, and they squinted their eyes painfully at the light. The silence was deafening and suffocating, until a ground shaking beat was heard. It was a heartbeat...no...it was two...beating in perfect harmony. A thick beam of palpable light shot out from both of their silver pendants, and crashed into each other when they met.  
  
The light itself started to form into a small figure. It was a little boy, and he held out his hands to the two teens beside him, all the while facing the black shadow defiantly. Hermione and Draco's bodies started to reappear, starting from their hands, which were held in the boy's. Now the boy stepped forward, hands out, palms outwards. The shadow shrank back, almost scared, almost frightened.  
  
An eternity was spent watching the two face off. Both were still and silent, neither moved. Hermione and Draco held their breath, and their hands unconsciously twined together.  
  
Suddenly a louder beat of a war drum. The shadow moved forwards, red eyes hungry, watching Hermione, watching Draco.  
  
"It is almost time." It grinned. "The sun has almost risen from the eastern horizon. You can do nothing." He glared at the boy. "YOU HEAR ME? YOU CAN DO NOTHING!!"  
  
"Yes I can." Calmly spoken. The boy flipped his palms downwards, until they were facing the ground.  
  
"AGHHHHH!!!!" An inhuman cry rent the silence. Bright white vines intertwined in the shadow's body, seeming to reach out of his stomach to hold him back. Then the vines stiffened, and jabbed themselves into the darkness around them. "NOOOOO! AGHH!" the shadow's cries penetrated and echoed through the abyss, as he was forced to his knees by the vines. "NO! You can't KEEP me here! YOU CAN"T KEEP ME HERE!!!!!"  
  
His cries echoed endlessly within the vaults of their minds. The abyss churned, and began lightening, until it was a light black. The shadow's screaming continued. The changing of the abyss caused it pain.  
  
The little boy turned to both of them. The outline was fuzzy, but they could just see a little boy with light brown hair within the light. He started speaking, his voice calming them, healing their wounds, washing away their pain.  
  
"It'll hold for a few days. You two must be ready when the time comes. You two are destined to save us. Find out about your heritage, find out about the pendants...I can only help you so much." With a slight smile that was the epitome of innocence, the little boy nodded. The little boy bowed courteously, stepped back, and started fading, more rapidly as each second passed. Hermione found her voice, that had been jarred in the back of her larynx for the past while.  
  
"Wait...what...what is your name." She asked, voice cracking slightly. The little boy grinned, his rosy lips budding into a smile.  
  
"My name? It is not important." He grinned boyishly. "But it is Tommy." The shadow behind the boy started screaming louder. The boy glanced behind him and shook his head sadly. He was almost gone, now. "Prepare..." he breathed quietly by way of parting.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco and Hermione sat bolt upright, breath rasping past their lungs. Sweat dripped past their brows and both simultaneously put a hand to their heads. Almost drawn by instinct, they headed for their separated porch doors.  
  
For the first time ever since several arduous weeks ago, the two teens watched the sunrise-in perfect peace.  
  
~*~  
  
that is all, and in case you didn't catch it, this was a dream. Lols...gotta love those dreams...in one dream I got chased by a bee and I STOpped it w/ some extra-strength liquid detergent!! *people are heard yawning loudly* heehee, anyways, happy new year!  
  
-dkc! 


	20. revelation from draco and others,,,

A/N: AIIYAYY!!! CAN U BELIEVE HOW LONG IT"S been since I renewed zis storryy?? Aiyyy! SORRRY TO ALL THE readers who read the last chapter, and were like.WHAT the heck was that???  
  
MY EXCUUUSE: I lost me Muuuuuse!!! Heehee..nah.my dad said I spent too much time on the comp and not enuff time NOT on the comp.and pretty much went ARRRGHHH!! So I said, 'fine.'  
  
THANK YOU TO MAH WONDAFUL REVIEWERS WHO STUCK BY ME, AH!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD  
  
Willowfairy: (X2) here's another chappie, mon amie!!! ACKKK!! NOOOOO!! Have your tomatoes turned into sauce now?? Rotten sauce?? Helpp!  
  
YAYYYYY SUMMMERRR!!! Thxxxx for reVIEWINGggg!!  
  
ChEeRcHiCk62: ah.wut can I say?? I hope u like dis one betta!  
  
LCA: oh gosh! 43 D's??? that's a bit expensive for me...i don't know...if I should...RAISE THE BET TO 44D's!!!!!!!!!  
  
:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!! BEAT THAT you DOUBTY mufasa! Lolls thx for reviewing!!!  
  
Natalie Garner: *stuffs a pillow in my shirt to be a hump on my back* Yes master, IGOR will try to finish story...yes...Igor will try... lolls.THX ZE 4 ZE REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDD  
  
Dreaming One: lols...Draco is a loincloth is sure...shexy...SHEXY I say!! Yess!!! I'm gonna fix up that dream thing soon!!! :DDDDDDDDD HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER!!!! Thx for reviewing, don't forget to review aggginnn!!  
  
Bubi: HEEHEE...lols...cool name...HERE"S anothee chappie for y'alll!!!!  
  
AHAAHAA..SORRRY! now it's FINALSSS time, but then, I'm a procrastinatooor to the CORE, so guess what I'ma doin'? GUERESS!! Writing!! Ackkk!!!! I have a frenchee final on Mooooonnday!! (my math teacher calls it mondie, it's funny)  
  
So eeenjoy!! (there IS some significance in tommy tho.;D)  
  
~*~  
  
Draco leaned heavily on the rail of his porch as he stood above the sparkling grounds of Hogwarts. The wind slowly cooled his heated face and blew a few loose strands of hair across his eyes. His dream stood out vividly in his mind. What was it about? The chill air penetrated his thin nightclothes and Draco shivered unnoticeably. A wave of dizziness suddenly swept over him, and Draco groggily shook his head.  
  
Releasing his grip on the rail to massage his temples, Draco sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the thick glass doors to his room. In the wizarding world dreams always meant something, a prophecy, an emotion. There had been something particular to this dream. He mused for a while, staring at the dark blue sky, and simultaneously watching the sun continue its trek up from the eastern horizon.  
  
The little boy in it-Tommy-had caged up some sort of shadowbeast. Was that why he could watch the sun rise now? Had the shadowbeast been the diudominus potion personified? How long would the beast stay caged? And who was the Tommy? Was he on their side? He shuddered as he remembered the feral primal evil the beast had exuded. Draco was struck with another thought. Had Snape really been captured by Voldemort?  
  
He imagined Hermione would already be in the library, researching up a storm. A warm feeling wrapped itself around his heart, and ran down his spine. Hermione...she had come after him. She hadn't let him die. Hermione. He felt a light colour come to his pale cheeks when he thought about her-had he really kissed her yesterday? He longed to be in her presence...her lips had been so warm...  
  
Just thinking about it made his mouth tingle. He toughed them lightly with a finger.  
  
He could see her sparkling brown eyes in his mind's eye-confused in the moonlight. They sparkled with a warmth he had never seen before. She had seemed so perfect. Nothing could have marred her then. She had come after him. She had cared for him. He wasn't...alone...  
  
A thought arrested him. Did she...love him? His memories of Hermione overloaded his mind, conflicting images of laughter and pain. She had told him he was perfect...she hadn't let him die...she...  
  
Maybe...just maybe...they could work out. He smiled in the sunshine. Maybe...she didn't care he was a Malfoy...she only cared that he was...him.  
  
He stood up quickly and another wave of dizziness came over him. Draco growled as his hand flew up to support his head. What was the matter? He wasn't sick was he? Malfoys were never sick, really. His mouth tasted slightly bitter and slimy.  
  
Draco hobbled over the edge of the fence and spat over it.  
  
"Ouch!" Draco's smile dropped when he recognized the voice. Potter. He groaned. His migraine returned with full force. Why did Potter have to bring such bad luck? Draco was feeling slight chivalrous, however, and decided not to hex him on the spot. He grumbled as Potter's voice again cut through his migraine like a scythe. On the other hand...  
  
Ok. So let's say he wasn't EXACTLY a morning person.  
  
If there was one thing he didn't understand was how Hermione could be his friend. Harry hadn't done anything Draco hadn't been through before. He directed his angry migraine-infected thoughts at him.  
  
Why would anybody be out at this ungodly hour? He stared lightly over his rail, and watched to Weasleys and Potter appear out of thin air. What??? He saw just a bit of silvery cloth being stowed away behind the Girl- Weasley's back.  
  
Realization hit him. Oh. So Potter had an Invisibility Cloak, eh? That would explain what he saw in third year. That ugly scar-headed git. His attention was drawn to the three teens on the ground when they began talking in hushed whispers. Draco rolled his eyes. Really, now. The wind carried their conversation up to his ears, and Draco didn't even need to try, to clearly hear their conversation. He screwed his eyes up as his temples started to annoy him again.  
  
"Don't you think Hermione's been acting up?" Harry asked, while rubbing off something wet that had landed on his arm a moment ago. (an: nasty!!!! Draco's spiiiiitttt) The other Weasley-Draco frowned as he tried to remember his name. Err...Rat-Ran-Rot-er, Rat is definitely the most suitable-who was still groggy, and rubbing his eyes, yawned.  
  
"Ron!!!" his sister called insistently. Oh, so his name was RON, eh? Too bad. Rat was more suitable. Draco smiled to himself.  
  
"What?" the other redhead called back.  
  
"Listen to Harry!" Ginny blushed when Potter sent her a grin.  
  
"Anyways, as I was saying, Hermione's been acting really strange lately...she barely talks to us, and she never answers questions anymore...it's not like her to pass up a chance to gain us house points." Draco wrinkled his brow as a weird sense of déjà vu engulfed him. Hadn't there been something like that in the dream?  
  
"I agree, Harry." The girl-Weasley piped up, shooting a goofy smile in Potter's direction. Could she BE more obvious? Draco couldn't resist, and cast a glance at the nasty scarhead, hoping the sight wouldn't burn his eyes too terribly. He rolled his eyes again. Could Potter BE more oblivious? They continued *whispering*.  
  
"I think there might be something wrong with her." Potter continued, staring at the Weasleys. "She said she couldn't reply to any of the mail I sent her-"  
  
"But her cousin was muggle, and she didn't want to raise suspicions, remember?" Ron reminded Potter. Potter held up a hand awkwardly to silence him. Draco shook his head in disgust. No skill at all.  
  
"No, I don't think so. Hedwig couldn't find her. I never sent her any mail." Rat aka Ron creased his brow.  
  
"So what does it mean?"  
  
"It means she's probably in trouble. Hedwig ALWAYS finds the person." Girl-Weasley told her brother. Draco nodded. Ginny Weasley wasn't as bad as her brother. Ron was just Potter's alter-ego.  
  
"Exactly." Potter agreed. "So we have to help her out, keep a careful watch on he-"  
  
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Draco's eyes trailed over to where Flint's cousin, Daniel, had stepped around the corner of the school. It had been veiled by bushes. Daniel was a new seventh year Slytherin just transferred from Durmstrang. He had a notorious reputation of being a Death Eater and was a player. Girls virtually hung off his arms in crowds. Strangely, on this particular occasion, there were none. Behind him were several other Slytherins, all wearing their green Quidditch robes.  
  
Daniel walked forward, his blue eyes glinting and contrasting with his dark black hair. In one arm he held a Firebolt, and the other a box of Quidditch balls. His bright green slytherin robes swirled about his ankles.  
  
"What are you doing here, Flint?" All three Gryffindors asked at the same time, wrinkling up their noses. Daniel looked down at the them in surprise, momentarily stumped at their stupidity, then pushed his way past them.  
  
" I have no time to waste on three Gryffindors," Daniel sneered over his shoulder, saying the word 'gryffindor' as if it were a curse, "I am going to do something useful, and play Quidditch." His team trailed behind him, and Draco started laughing at the expressions on the faces of the Gryffindor Dream Team.  
  
Then he stopped. And his eyes widened. SHOOT!  
  
He scrambled upright and ran into his room. QUIDDITCH! Draco quickly slapped on his quidditch robes, and yanked his broom into his hand. Boots halfway done up, Draco ran to his porch again in record time. Jumping onto his Firebolt he flew maniacally to the Quidditch field.  
  
He saw his green robed teammates lining up, and dived his way towards them. Great. He made it just in time. Then a horrible thought struck him, as horrible thoughts indefinitely do when one is annoyed. Draco groaned and cursed Lucius and Voldemort, and basically everything that he could think of. Darn that diudominus.  
  
He could only remember events that had happened the past few nights. He couldn't remember ANYTHING from the mornings. He DIDN'T remember the plays. He DIDN'T remember ANY of his classes.  
  
ARGHHH.  
  
"Take off!" Flint's voice invaded his thoughts, and Draco immediately kicked off the ground and flew up high above the stadium. He growled hard under his breath, and glared around the arena for that annoying little gold snitch. He wasn't feeling particularly well, and he slouched slightly on his broom in exhaustion. His eyelids felt heavy. Growling at nobody in particular, Draco shook his head to keep awake.  
  
There it was.  
  
Okay there. The faster he caught that thing, the faster he could go to his dorm and rest. He rubbed his eyes savagely with one frostbitten hand, and narrowed his eyes at the snitch in front of him.  
  
Now, to dive.  
  
He tilted his broom downwards, and stretched out his hand to the ever-so- close snitch fluttering a metre below him. His supporting arm started shaking. Draco growled as his eyesight blurred also. His legs felt weak, and he felt his grip on his firebolt slipping. Draco's whole body felt numb. His grip on his broom was slipping...  
  
.  
  
The falling wasn't so bad. But when he hit the ground, that was when Draco heard the sickening sound of a bone crack.  
  
~*~  
  
AN: that's all for now! Whoaaa what willl happen??? I zon't know, do you????? REVIEW PLZ!!  
  
THEN YYYOOU!  
  
YES, YOU!  
  
YOU!  
  
Will get...YOUR OWN RANT...in the NEXT...CHAPTER!!!!!!!  
  
-dkccc!!! IS BACKKKK 


	21. woah, is there something to harry?

A/n; AIIITE MY PPL!! I'll try to upload zis one FASTER!!!!! Wow...i am sooooo boredddd??!!! I'm home ALOOONEE!!! =O (mcCaulay Culkin style!)  
  
Since there aren't any reviews for the last chappie, there aren't any rants today!!! So enjoy this next chappie that I uploaded!!  
  
(2 chappies in a day! U guys are lucky) :DDDDDDD  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Sunlight spilled across his eyes as Madame Pomfrey threw the blinds up with a flick of her wrist. Draco blinked rapidly, and squinted his eyes in the harsh light. Where was he? He raised himself up with an elbow, and glanced around a room filled with white upholstery: white couches, light mauve carpet. The nurse caught sight of him, and headed his way.  
  
"Oh, boy, you're awake." Madame Pomfrey broke the silence with her stern voice. Although her tone was neutral, Draco could see the distrust imminent in her eyes. Usually it didn't matter to Draco but on this one particular occasion, her prejudice of him upset him. He licked his dry lips with a parched tongue and nodded quietly, his eyes still narrowed from the sunlight. "You had a nasty fall," she continued, "crushed you arm and your leg." As she was talking, she moved in front of the window.  
  
Draco blinked. Madame Pomfrey was now silhouetted by the light, and he couldn't see her face anymore. But he vaguely remembered falling from his broom. He suddenly felt how unnaturally bound his arm and leg were, and an exhaustion spread through his body. He collapsed back in his bed, and drew the covers over his eyes.  
  
The darkness induced his sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
"You have visitors." The old nurse told him, although her eyes still shone with a certain dislike of him. But medicine must be working, because Draco did feel a little better, as the cool night breeze blew across his face. The moonlight was out, and he felt calmer. One thought infected his thoughts though. So far Hermione hadn't visited him yet. He tried to ignore how much that fact was affecting him. He had been visited by Crabbe, Goyle, Veruca, and Hazel (a Ravenclaw) but still there was no sign of Hermione.  
  
Madame Pomfrey's brief line inflated his hope once again. He had visitors. Maybe it was Hermione. Draco strained his neck to the doorway but a cold disappointment clamped over his heart. It was only Zambini and Pansy. He glared at his arm, tucked neatly above his white blanket. Perhaps yesterday night had meant nothing to her.  
  
Perhaps it was just her Gryffindor heart that made her leap after him.  
  
Perhaps he was nothing to her.  
  
Pansy and Blaise were now at his bedside. A cold expression spread across his face as he crossed his newly healed arms. He didn't even spare them a glance. This wasn't the time for them. He didn't want to hear their voices, he didn't want to pretend to be interested.  
  
"Oh poor baby." Pansy cooed, tucking his blond hair behind his ear with her cold fingers. Draco remained stoic, and clenched his hand into a fist. A few months ago he would have responded, would've said something to make her kiss him.  
  
But now...  
  
Draco turned the other way.  
  
At the same time he was startled at his actions, at the disgust that was welling up inside him. A few months ago...what would he have done? He shivered in revulsion. He knew exactly what he would've done. And he didn't like it.  
  
He wished this would end. He wished they would go away, leave him to his festering thoughts and feelings. At the same time...what was stopping him? Had Hermione changed him so much? Had his brief two months knowing Hermione...so drastically annihilated the worser side of him?  
  
Draco closed his slate eyes.  
  
"Leave me alone. Now." He said, he voice emotionless and unchanging. Pansy smiled. She placed her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Come on, Draco." He shrugged her hand off, his stomach twisting in revulsion. His eyes flew open, and he dragged himself into a sitting position.  
  
"Out. Now." He enunciated every word, his voice low and threatening. He knew that the Malfoy name held enough sway to frighten her. Pansy's vapid eyes widened in anger. Then, surprisingly, a sinuous smile twisted itself around her mouth.  
  
"Come on, Blaise. Let him wait for his mudblood. His mudblood, who will never come." They left as quickly as they came, but Pansy mumbled at the doore. Draco's eyes had bugged when he heard Pansy call Hermione a mudblood, and he felt his blood boil. He laughed at cynically at himself. He had called her that too, not too many days ago...it wasn't even true anyways. He remembered the time he had relished the thought of making her cry...making her feel the pain he felt every time his dad beat him...  
  
He remembered how proud his father had been, when he had made Hermione cry.  
  
But he didn't need these thoughts now. He had to rest, now, so he could get out of here, and see Hermione the next day...  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione lurked near the doorway to the infirmary. Her emotions were mixed. She wanted to know if Draco was okay. She didn't care about what had happened w/ Pansy. It could be that there was a logical explanation...her mind groped for one.  
  
Maybe...she shook her head at the 'maybe's that ran through her head. He had tried to die for HER, right? That had to mean something... Hermione nodded decisively, and walked purposefully to the door.  
  
Her hand almost touched the metal doorknob before the large oaken door of the infirmary opened, and two Slytherins walked out. Pansy and Blaise. Hermione's heart froze in her chest, and she clenched her hands into fists. Hermione backed up from Pansy's advancing figure, her arm encircling the wand beneath her robes.  
  
"Bye Draco, honey," Pansy whispered at the door. Blaise looked on quietly. She didn't seem surprised to see Hermione.  
  
Hermione's eyes widened. Draco had forgotten her. Pansy's actions confirmed her fears. She was stupid to think he would've changed. Tears collected at her eyes, but Hermione dashed them away, clenching her teeth to keep back the dam that threatened to explode. One thought stood out vividly in her mind.  
  
She had to go. She had to leave the Slytherins.  
  
She backed away from them, one step at a time, her eyes remaining rebelliously dry. It seemed to take an eternity. Hermione turned a corner, and the Slytherins were out of sight. Once there, however, Hermione's composure broke. Tears running down her cheeks, Hermione turned and fled towards her common room, her curly brown hair flying limply behind her.  
  
Pansy's heartless laughter echoed in the vaults of her mind.  
  
~*~  
  
"My dear, what's wrong?" the Pink Lady asked of the sobbing figure by the entrance. She showed general concern for the depressed girl.  
  
Hermione's face was all red, and her eyes were screwed up. She had collapsed in a corner by the portal, too overcome to utter the single password. Her hands covered her face, and she crouched in the fetal position, her knees drawn up tightly to her chin. It wasn't fair. What gave Draco a right to toy with her emotions?  
  
She laughed coldly. His Malfoy-given right. That was a laugh. Even so, her shoulders continued shaking with the violence of her sobs. Her heart felt leaden in her chest, as tears continued to rack her body.  
  
And that was the way Harry found her.  
  
~*~  
  
"Don't worry, Hermione, it'll be alright." Harry cooed to the crying head girl, stroking her hair softly. Her head was on his shoulder, and her tears were making his robes wet, but Harry couldn't have been more comfortable. Her sobbing had been reduced to hoarse cries.  
  
"Shh, now. I'll make it all right, Hermione." Hermione hiccoughed, and rubbed her red rimmed eyes. She looked up into the eyes of her friend. His green eyes echoed back warmly at her, filled with an intense emotion. "I'll always be your friend, Hermione." He wiped her tears with one finger, and smiled gently.  
  
"You promise?" She asked falteringly.  
  
"Yes." He said it with such a solid conviction that she couldn't help but smile. He grinned in response. The Gryffindor common room was empty, except for them. The rest of the house was already asleep.  
  
The moonlight filtered down on Harry's heroic face, and Hermione snuggled deeper in his arms. He was her friend, and would always be there to pick her up when she fell. She closed her eyes peacefully.  
  
Harry took a deep breath, as he contemplated the girl in his arms. His own heart throbbed painfully at the unchecked feelings that lay there. He swallowed quietly, and rested Hermione's head on his lap. He stroked her unruly brown locks again, and smiled. Should he tell her how he felt? Harry worked up his courage, and steeled himself for a rejection.  
  
"Hermione-" no response.  
  
Harry glanced down at her. She was already asleep. He smiled at the innocent form in his arms, and kissed her forehead.  
  
"-I love you." He whispered quietly to her angelic face, lit by the moonlight.  
  
Harry quietly tucked a pillow in place of his leg, and covered Hermione up with a blanket, tucking it up to her chin. He would ask her who had made her cry tomorrow.  
  
He silently made his way up the stairs and slept.  
  
~*~  
  
In the infirmary, Draco tossed and turned.  
  
~*~  
  
AN: WHOOAAA BIIIGG plot twist!!! What will happen next time??? ACK!! Even III want to know!  
  
REVIEW PLZ!!!!  
  
:DDDDDDDDDDDDd  
  
-DKC IS BACk!!!!!!! 


	22. draco's cries and harry's nuisance

An: woow. It's official! THIS is the longest story I have ever written to date! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD -for me, almost 97 pages now!!! :DDD it doesn't seem that long though...arp...  
  
ACK! I DON"T lyke MATH!!! Why must I take SUMMER SKOOL??? IT REALLy, REALLY, had no purposseee!!! Ackkkk!  
  
Ah wells, to my very treasured, one review...ahem, ahem...  
  
LCA: hiya!!! D'oh! U win!!! :CCCC haha lolls.*scratches mosquito bites and also at the same time eats a doughnut* yup! Hermione's being stuuupid!!! neways REVIEW!!!!! :DDDD (haha...don't laff @ the shortage of D's) I used up all of them competing in the 'D' Olympics...lols.  
  
TO the STory!!!  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
Draco walked down the halls of Hogwarts, his arm fully mended, although a few of the Slytherin fourth years continued to coo at him with sympathetic noises. He nodded his head ambiguously at them, his heart aching to find Hermione, to ask her what she wanted to do, to just be in her presence...he would've never had admitted to himself however, but scoured the hallway for bushy brown hair.  
  
He barely noticed when Crabbe and Goyle joined him, staying a step behind.  
  
Draco's prayers were answered when he came across them: Hermione, Potter, Weasley, and Longbottom. He was feeling peculiar. Nobody but him and Hermione knew about their midnight trysts...they had never really talked before in plain daylight, normal circumstances, in front of all his and her, friends. His eyes stole a quick glance at Hermione, and he frowned. Her face was screwed up, her eyes looked bloodshot and sullen, and she seemed to be putting Potter in between them and avoiding his gaze.  
  
Draco decided she didn't want to talk to him in front of Potter and his death-eating housemates, and was about to pass the Gryffindor bunch without incident when-  
  
"Malfoy, this isn't the infirmary, where you can fake your injuries so easily." Draco glanced up at Harry, who seemed to be rearing for a fight. His jaw clenched, and he was just about to echo a scathing remark when he stopped, and saw the look Hermione was sending him.  
  
A look of pure loathing.  
  
His voice caught in the back of his throat, as his eyes swam over her hatred-filled face. He was sure that a garbled sound came from his throat. Draco's heart stopped, and he was sure his mouth was hanging open. He studied her expression for a kind of falseness that would let him know she was just faking it, confusion written over his face; a dark knife seemed to be ripping his insides apart.  
  
She raised her eyes defiantly at him, looking at him as if he were an insect, one she would really like to squash on the wall if it would just come closer...  
  
Draco blinked. This was the girl that he had felt ANY affection for, the one who he thought maybe didn't look past his last name, looked past his shield...and saw him- REALLY saw him.  
  
Her eyes however, continued to hate him. And draco's wisp of hope, that he was actually liked by somebody in the world, was snuffed out.  
  
He was at a loss of words, his mouth lolling around in his mouth like some useless instrument. She could not fathom how much his heart was hurting, how his limbs were feeling weak and funny like he had just been drenched with freezing water; how badly he was shaking, how badly he wanted to just run away.  
  
But Draco continued to stare, his gaze entranced by Hermione's.  
  
His numbing thoughts crashed around him. Nobody cared. Everybody had betrayed him. Hermione had betrayed him. After all he had done for her. He had almost DIED for her, for Chris' sake! After all that, even she had stabbed his heart with a cruel blunt edged knife.  
  
He couldn't think straight. Draco knew that there was a voice inside his head, telling him this was HERMIONE, the one who he had shared so much with...that he TRUSTED. But the thoughts bounced off Draco's unfeeling mind, shattering into a thousand fragments.  
  
Draco swallowed, and let his usual cold swiftness wash over him, welcoming the strength it brought him. He didn't care-he shouldn't care-about anything. He smoothed his white-blonde hair to his head, a sneer coming to his face.  
  
His expression was a perfect mask that hid his feelings. Draco's eyes, however, were as wide as saucers, glancing over the curious audience that had surrounded them. They were a blur to his mind, but suddenly his mind registered a sound.  
  
It was a snicker.  
  
The Gryffindors were laughing at him. They pointed at him, their laughter shocking him out of his daze. He regained the feeling in his arms and legs, almost collapsing under his sudden weight. They were laughing at him. And he didn't know what to say...how to retaliate.  
  
Without a word, he fled.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco groaned as he woke up, the back of his neck wet from sweat, and his hair plastered to his forehead. He ran a hand through his hair, then flinched as pain shot up his arm. Surveying his arm grimly, Draco couldn't help but feel a small tendril of satisfaction wind it's way around his semi- conscious mind.  
  
Caked blood had dried glisteningly on his arms, from numerous cuts-some wispy and yet others thick-that winked merrily back on him. He ran a finger down one laceration, smiling grimly at the pain it caused.  
  
He laughed cruelly at himself. He was a masochistic ass. His pain was his only pleasure.  
  
*FLASHBACK*  
  
Draco ran to his room, his thoughts stopping, his heart empty. He was a Malfoy...he didn't feel anything, and wouldn't feel anything. His robes flew out behind him, Crabbe and Goyle long gone. His hair was in a disarray as he ran up the staircase (behind the witch statue) and to the head boy's dormitories.  
  
The boy ran down the hallway, his footfalls thudding in the silent air. The dims sconces on the walls flared in his dead-feeling face, illuminating his wide eyes and his clenched hands that trembled as he ran. The dark silver and gold carpet held the footprints of his passage, and Draco turned another corner, his blonde hair flying recklessly behind him. The hallway was stifling, and had no windows.  
  
There. Draco reached the door to the Head's common room, his breath unnoticed as it rasped past his lungs. His cheeks pink from the exercise.  
  
He glared at the hard oaken door that stoically refused his entrance. Draco really was NOT in the mood for it. He DID NOT want to hear what he had to say...he was...afraid of what he would say...  
  
Instead, he kept silent, and the door wouldn't budge.  
  
That was the last straw for Draco. With an anger that even startled himself, Draco started pounding on the painting beside it, it's startled inhabitants quickly scurrying from his presence. He didn't care, he continued gouging at the hard wooden frame, until his knuckles were scratched and bleeding.  
  
The more pain he caused himself, the more soulless sobs spasmed up his throat, not causing any tears, just a repetition of choking. Draco banged his head on the wall, sobs threatening to engulf his body. His shoulders were shaking with hopelessness. He covered his face in his arms, and slid down the wall, hitting the ground with a thud. There, the blonde tried to calm his breath.  
  
He kept thoughts from resurfacing, he didn't need to deal with them. He couldn't handle the hatred...  
  
To his surprise, the door flung open on it's own accord, snapping Draco out of his depression for a while.  
  
Uncertainily, the boy walked into the common room, his eyes wandering the room. He heard a skitter and turned, only to face shadows. Draco was suddenly engulfed in disgust. He loathed himself, just as Hermione did.  
  
As Hermione DID.  
  
Draco collapsed on the couch in misery, his heart feeling like a lump of coal in his chest, his mouth dry. His eyes caught a sparkle of metal, and he picked it up. A gasp shot out of his throat.  
  
It was his dagger.  
  
He unsheathed it unsteadily, his gaze drawn to the cruel point of the blade as it refracted the sunlight. Outside he could hear the children laughing, their raucous chorus sounding far away. Draco looked at the knife again, knowing what he was about to do, not caring that he was going to miss classes, not giving a rat's ass about how mentally deranged the whole situation was. How he had promised Hermione he would never do it again...  
  
That settled it. With the mention of her name his expression darkened, and squinting his eyes and grating his teeth, Draco dragged the blade down his skin. It didn't give him the peace it had the last time.  
  
Frowning, Draco cut the blade viciously into his skin, almost biting his tongue at the pain the had blossomed on his arm. A wild, desperate smile flickered on his face, and he cut himself again, the cuts becoming a pattern as the blood met to form a dark red river...  
  
END FLASHBACK  
  
~*~  
  
Draco laughed cruelly, the disgust of himself welling inside his body. He laughed desperately, cynically, his chuckles reverberating crazily around the empty common room. How long had his father taught him to be strong? To be cruel? His insane chuckles filled the room again.  
  
If Lucius could only see him now. Ha. He would have him flogged for his demented self-pity, he would have him imprisoned in the dungeons with no food for days and days and days for his self-inflicted cuts. That was weakness. Weakness is not for Malfoys. Weakness is for the dead. Or those who wanted to die.  
  
He sat himself spread eagled on the couch, his legs leaning off the arm. He thought seriously.  
  
Did he really have anything more to live for?  
  
~*~  
  
Meanwhile, in the other room, Harry was preparing for the weekend Hogsmeade trip, and nervously swallowed and slicked his messy dark hair down with one hand. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and licked his lips.  
  
He might as well practice now, if he wanted to tell her on the weekend. Harry swallowed nervously again, but his mind was made up.  
  
"Hermione," he began nervously, looking at his reflection in the mirror. Harry took a deep breath, and plunged into what he wanted to say. "I want to be your boyfriend. I love you."  
  
There was a small gasp at the door, and Harry turned around in an instant, blushing, his Quidditch reflexes taking over. He walked to the door, and opened it slowly, preparing for the worst.  
  
He heard soft cries, and saw Ginny bent over a chessboard. Harry shrugged. Chess was a hard game, he thought obliviously. But then his attention was diverted as he felt HER presence. She was standing by the door, her body ramrod straight.  
  
His eyes met tearing brown ones, wisps of curly brown hair hiding them partially from view.  
  
~*~  
  
Okeea...that's about it for now, sorry this chappie was kindof angsty, ppl! I didn't mean it! Arrghhh...i hope u guys like it tho!  
  
MUST be off to SCRATCH mosquito bites! Buhbye~  
  
-dkc...REVIEWWWW!!!!! :DDDDDDD 


	23. moonlit mistakes,,,DOH!

LCA: that would be Puuurrfect!!! (if u still wanna be my beta-reader) :DDD u really don't mind? Kool kool koooool!!!! Um, I'll send u the next chappie then!  
  
willowfairy!!: u came back!! :DDD HAPPy! Yaya. Dang it. *take's out a moldy tomatoed couch and hides behind it* I thought I could get rid of it...lol! THANX FOR DA REVIEW!!! :DDDDDDDDD  
  
ShanaiLatoi: ugh...i can call it a chappie if I want, yo. Chill.  
  
Natalie Garner: YAY!! Ur BACK!!! :DDDDD I better get this chappie out before u come and chase me around the computer until I upload! lol! *sees Nat getting ready to charge* AHH!!! *runs away, but comes back to write* THX for da REVIEWWW!!! YAAAYYYYY!!!! *runs away again*  
  
Chrissy: WOW chrissy! Thx for da compliment! U likes it? U really do? :DDDDDDDDDDDD (save some D's for a happy smile! Lol) Welp, here's another chappie for now! THx for reviewing!!! *runs away, for no apparent reason* TTYL~!~!  
  
Looy: yay! U likes? Thx a bunch!! Reviewers are the best! Go Looy! Go Looy!  
  
AN: on a really cool note, I had TWO firedrills today during summer school. YAAAYY! GO whoever didn't like school and decided to pull the alarm! *cheers*  
  
~*~  
  
Light of Darkness  
  
~*~  
  
Draco had decided. He swiftly made his way from the couch, his steps assured.  
  
~*~  
  
"Harry..." Hermione started nervously, her eyes filling up with unshed tears. Dang it! Why was she so emotional? She rubbed one eye roughly with the back of her hand, took a deep breath and cleared her mind.  
  
Harry could never compare with Draco.  
  
She groaned at the thought. There was NO Draco. NONE. He didn't exist. He never had. He had probably played a cruel, sick joke on her, to humiliate Hermione emotionally, and turn his back on her. She wasn't going to be weak, and fall back in his arms, after all the pain he had caused her, after he had left her...  
  
Frustrated, Hermione raked her hands through her bushy hair, trying to untangle the knots and curls and knarls in it, and trying to channel her sadness and her anger into the motion.  
  
Her attention returned to Harry, who was still halfway behind the washroom door. (AN. Let's pretend there's a bathroom connected to the Gryffindor common room!) His hands were gripping the door hard, his knuckles turning white. He was watching her carefully from the corner of his eye. Hermione could see him; his green eyes pleading with her, gentle yet shy.  
  
Unconsciously, she growled a little at the cute expression on his face.  
  
Hermione quietly surveyed the other girl who was in the room. Ginny. She could tell by how the redhead's hands seemed to be covering her face that she was hiding her expression. Maybe Harry was too dense, but Hermione could see a crush as blatant as that. Sure, Ginny had tried to hide it in 5th year, but no other boy compared to HARRY.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes, trying to calm her mutinous thoughts. Should she be Harry's girlfriend?  
  
Should she?  
  
Really?  
  
Her mind said yes. This was her friend since 11 she was talking about! She had known him for 6 years already! She felt comfortable in his presence, felt a familiarity that soothed her when she was too nervous. But then again...her mind was numb as she turned to survey The Boy Who Lived once again, his dark hair a messy nest on top of his head, his glasses slightly askew and his scar glowing painfully in the moonlight...  
  
An unknown feeling bubbled to through her heart.  
  
BUT he was just SO SIMPLE! With him there would be no secret agenda, no horrible father, a less tortured past...Everything was blunt, out there, open...Hermione grinned at how deliciously simple it could be...  
  
The brunette groaned wearily, rubbing her forehead in consternation.  
  
Damn this all.  
  
Why was this happening to her?  
  
She knew, deep down inside her, inside the darkest pit of her heart, that she still might feel something for Draco...If she became Harry's girlfriend...then who knew when she might ever have a chance with the blonde again?  
  
Hermione groaned, disgusted at her infatuation with the Head Boy. Forget about Draco. Forget him. She swept the swirling doubts from her mind, swept her concern, her fears, and her worries out. She gazed at Harry's loving face, his green eyes imploring her.  
  
"Yes." Hermione said quietly, knowing full well the implications of her actions. She heard Harry and Ginny both inhale sharp breaths, but for opposite feelings. Harry's face lit up with joy, and he hugged Hermione hard. Ginny shot them a weak smile, although her eyes betrayed the pain that was tearing her up inside.  
  
Hermione shot her a concerned glance when she saw Ginny raggedly wipe her eyes. Oblivious to everything, Harry bounced around.  
  
"YES! YES!!" he cajoled joyously, flinging his fist in the air in exuberation, and missing Hermione's face by inches. He didn't seem to notice but continued prancing around the room, shouting. "HERmionE's MinnEE! HermIONe's MINE!!! Hermione's my GIRLFRieend!!"  
  
~*~  
  
Draco silently placed a tightly packaged letter on Hermione's pillow, bags under his sleepless eyes. An unknown weight began to pile on him, numbing him, dragging him from his decision.  
  
He balled the fist at his side in determination.  
  
~*~  
  
MEANWHILE...  
  
~*~  
  
Limbo.  
  
Snape floated in his subconscious, the darkness surrounding him, his body far away, his muted cries of pain only echoes to his ears. Here, nothing could harm him, and he remained comfortable shackled in this warming dark void...  
  
Limbo.  
  
He didn't remember anything, nor did he care that his memories were dropping like flies. Who cared about those memories anyway? They were painful. This quiet darkness provided him with everything he needed, he didn't have to eat, nor sleep, nor anything else, for that matter. He was just...LIVING. The warm, black darkness wavered, weaker this time, and Snape faintly felt his body shudder in pain, his shoulder blades bruised from its contact with the cold stone wall...  
  
Snape frowned in his subconscious, his fingers gently stroking his smooth chin. He had to get away from the pain...it was getting too strong.  
  
The prisoner closed his eyes and shrank deeper into the vaults of his mind, his body's protests falling on oblivious ears. Ah, there it was again. A smile flitted across his face, as he felt the darkness wrap its numbing tendrils around him.  
  
Limbo.  
  
~  
  
He was a pitiful sight to behold. He had been kept barely alive, his body malnourished and shaking from the cold of the dungeon. His ribs protruded from his lacerated chest. His head was lolling around his neck, frail, and almost seeming to fall off his bloody shoulders. His eyes were dazed, and far away in a quasi-conscious state. The sinister dark mark on his arm glowed dully, burning itself into his abrasioned flesh.  
  
"The fool." Voldemort muttered as he stood outside the prison door. He had not wanted to dispose of him, like he had not wanted to dispose of Goyle or Crabbe (the seniors). His gleaming red eyes narrowed dangerously.  
  
But they had betrayed him.  
  
The Dark Lord's eyes roved around his dank dungeon, coming to rest at the three men that were strapped to the wall. Snape, Crabbe, and Goyle. A smile flickered across his reptilian lips.  
  
Voldemort walked inside, his nose assaulted by the suffocating stench of decay. He enjoyed it, breathing in deeply as he headed towards the prisoners, his footsteps making no sound on the molding straw covering the cool stone floor. He stopped when he reached Snape.  
  
The man viciously yanked at the greasy prisoner's head, and looked, with a thinly veiled anger, at Snape. How MUCH this one had betrayed him, or tried to! He had not succeeded, however, Voldemort had made sure of that. Voldemort gazed again at Snape's exhausted, heavy-lidded black eyes, his anger threatening to explode at the greasy spy.  
  
Dumbledore's henchman. He snarled silently to himself. 'That old fool will die at my hands' he thought confidently, though unable to ignore the tendril of fear the wove around his heart. His anger grew.  
  
But back to Snape. Voldemort WOULD get his answers. Voldemort WOULD know about Dumbledore's pathetic plans to stop him. He WOULD know who the Rellwing princess was, and who her lover was.  
  
And then he would kill them. Simple.  
  
And there was one thing those Rellwings didn't know. They didn't know that he SUSPECTED that they were going to turn on him, it had already been PROphesied by his faithful servants. A surge of vicious confidence rushed into Voldemort's ailing body, and his red eyes narrowed in pleasure.  
  
The Dark Lord dropped his hold on Snape, and smiled beatifically at the unconscious man. Snape couldn't protect anything. He had suffered in vain.  
  
That old fool Dumbledore didn't even realize he had already sent Wormtail to watch over the Head Boy and Girl, to keep then under the control of the Diudominus potion, and ensure they reported any suspicious actions of Dumbledore to him. And, of course, to increase the rift between the four 'houses.'  
  
Turmoil. Voldemort pictured it in his head. He would cause turmoil on his return.  
  
Voldemort let a satisfied smirk spread across his face, and picked up a vial that had been forgotton at the prisoner's feet. He swirled the liquid around, the thick, transparent potion sloshing around inside. Voldemort had had enough pleasure watching them suffer, watching them writhe in the pain he inflicted. Now, it was time to be serious.  
  
A cruel smile wove around his face as he turned toward his three prisoners, clutching the Verisatum potion eagerly with his pointed, slender fingers.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco stood alone in the Great Hall, looking over the empty tables in the misty moonlight that streamed from the windows above. He had never thought he would be sad, leaving this place. But here he was, looking sentimentally at everything around him with a heavy heart.  
  
The boy walked slowly to the nearest table, and dragged one hand down the cool burnished mahogany wood; looked up at the banner which hung brilliantly above it, a gold and red flag that depicted a ferocious lion. Gryffindor's banner fluttered elegantly in the moonlit air, and Draco gazed at it, enthralled by the beauty of the golden beast.  
  
It was a surreal moment. The blue moonlight placed everything in an ethereal glow, and Draco blinked his eyes rapidly, wondering for an instant if he was really awake. For a moment he glanced to the cold green banner on the opposite corner of the Gryffindor's, the cunning green snake seeming to wink at him. In his semi-conscious state, Draco winked back at it.  
  
The boy felt half asleep, the muted sounds of the outside only adding to his reverie. He heard the soft hoots of the owls in the owlery, thinking wistfully of Persephone, his regal brown and silver owl.  
  
There was a slight scrape of clothes against wood at the main door, and Draco turned around, his eyes dazed and his skin glowing an eerie blue. His robes behind him flapped as he suddenly turned around.  
  
Draco's eyes trailed to the figure at the door. She was only a silhouette, but he would recognize her anywhere. The boy let out a small sigh as she stepped out into the moonlight.  
  
Hermione was perfect.  
  
In that instant, Draco felt a surge of feeling through his body as he gazed at her. She was beautiful, her brown hair glowing, her skin so smooth and her eyes so expressive, as her mouth opened in a small 'o' of surprise.  
  
In that instant, before her face fell, and her whole expression blanched and became an angry, hate-filled grimace. Another dagger worked itself into Draco's heart, and he bowed his head in defeat, his hope extinguished. He had wanted to tell her...tell her face to face, and not in a stupid letter... His liquid blue eyes gazed at her again, drinking in her presence, and remembering every single detail of her. Her slender fingers, the way they were clenched into graceful fists, her flowing black robes...  
  
"I'm Harry's girlfriend, now, Draco."  
  
The way she just said she was Harry's girlfriend...  
  
HARRY'S GIRLFRIEND?? Draco blinked, the words lingering and echoing endlessly in his confused mind. He choked back the growing sobs at his throat, and swallowed, his whole body protesting his nonchalant expression, his emotionless stance.  
  
He swallowed, hard. Draco must have screwed this up again, made her hate him...  
  
It was better that it would end this way. Better that he should leave her like this. She would have no regrets. Yes. It was better that she would move on, forget about the problems he gave her, forget about him...  
  
For once showing his emotions, his shoulders slumped and he stared blearily at his hands.  
  
"Goodbye...my Hermione." Draco said softly as he turned his back on her.  
  
~*~  
  
~*~  
  
"WHO is the Rellwing princess? Who is her lover?" the Dark Lord screeched, his nails digging into Snape's chin. "Tell me! NOW!"  
  
Snape stared soullessly into Voldemort's eyes, his mouth contorting. An inner battle was taking place within his subconscious, and he grimaced. Just as suddenly, however, a lucid, doe-eyed expression came over Snape, the effects of the Verisatum Potion taking over.  
  
"Hemenadra." The greasy hair prisoner muttered, his mouth sagging from a broken jaw and exhaustion. Voldemort growled, and jabbed his wand at Snape's mouth, curing, with distaste, the man's broken jowl.  
  
"WHO IS IT?" The snake-like man yelled, his voice rising one or two octaves. He held his captive's chin, none too gently, in his one, slender hand.  
  
Snape stared at him, his eyes dead and emotionless.  
  
"Hermione and Draco. Hermione Ranger and Draco Malfoy."  
  
A palpable silence permeated the room, broken just as suddenly.  
  
Chuckles.  
  
Voldemort's eyes widened maniacally, his chuckles growing louder and throatier with each second.  
  
~*~  
  
A/n. That's it for now! Thank you ALL if you REVIEW! And THANK yOU ALL if you've READ this far!  
  
YAYAY!!!!  
  
*sticks a little dkc flag on the ground for no particular purpose*  
  
REVIEW!!!!  
  
*waves insanely* 


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